
Class:?'Ri^5 
Book ^__^ __ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 







^^y^^a/ernal/i/y 






GOLDEN GRAIN 



BY 



Dr. T. W. BELLINGHAM 



AUTHOR OF 



" Popular Sermons," " Hymns and 
Poetic Gems," etc. 




PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 



^^Sa^ 



Two Copies rtecdjvtju : 

JAH 3 1905 

COPY i/T^ 



Copyrighted 1904 
By T. W. Bellingham 



%r' 



DEDICATED TO A EKIENR 

Human friendship, in its truest sense, brings 
ont the passion of the soul. Knowing that to 
be the case, in life's battles, strength and cour- 
age are given, and we breathe a sigh of relief. 
To you, my friend, whether in palace or hamlet, 
toiling for the peace and prosperity of human- 
kind, I respectfully dedicate this book. 



PEEFACE 

"Golden Graiin^" contains prose and poetry, 
and cost many hours of toil to bring out of the 
mind's storehouse the essence of truth for the 
harvest of life. 

This is an age when brevity is sought for, and 
change is deemed wholesome; therefore a vari- 
ety of topics is presented to the reader. It is 
to be hoped that many a weary toiler will be 
refreshed by the perusal of this volume, and 
that the beauty and fragrance of the Golden 
Grain shall help to nourish the lives of all who 
take the time to read, and store in the memory 
granary the fruits herein contained. Being 
placed in the field of literature to comfort* 
cheer, and help humanity in the struggle of life, 
it is sincerely hoped that all who read the con- 
tents will be inspired to go out into the harvest 
fields, and gather other grain that shall be 
stored away for future use, in helping many 
in this earthly life. By assisting others to live, 
and lifting them to higher ideals, we ourselves 
are blest. If the author of this volume has 
cheered and consoled one human heart, then the 
5 



6 Preface 

labor expended in study is amply justified, and 
the writer repaid for what it cost. May our 
Father in Heaven bless the Golden Grain, to 
satisfy and fill many a hungry soul. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Work Wins 9 

A Thanksgiving Discourse 25 

Just Sleeping 40 

Our Beloved Dead 52 

A Courageous Act 65 

Decoration Day 78 

Divine Healing 94 

IVIeasure for Measure 106 

Soldiers of the Republic 120 

The Reality of Life 122 

To the Memory of Miss Lulu Edmonds 123 

To the Memory of Miss Bertha M. Kinney 124 

To THE Memory of Mrs. K!atie Pifer 125 

Enigmas to Be Solved 127 

Life Has No Cessation 128 

Bottled Tears 130 

Only the Good 131 

The Heavenly Home 132 

The Bible 133 

Launched, but Whither Bound 134 

The Frailty of Man 135 

Be Not Discouraged 137 

A Vision of Life 139 

An Easter Message 141 



8 ' Contents 

In Memory of Ralph Orton 142 

In Memoriam 143 

The Right Place 144 

A Vision of the Cross 145 

Men Wanted 147 

The Greatest Service to Another is to Be- 
lieve IN Him 148 

A Husband's Death 149 

Lay Hold on Eternal Life 151 

An Experience 152 

What Is Truth^ 153 

He Knoweth the Way That I Take 154 

Bethlehem's Cradle 155 

The Crystal Can Not Equal It 157 

A Great Mystery 158 

Losing Life, We Save It 159 



WORK WINS. 

The price of success in life is the simple 
rule of diligence in work. This world is teem- 
ing with life and activity. There is the contin- 
ual revolving process which brings to us day 
and night alternately. The laws of the mighty 
Maker are in operation, and there is that cease- 
less labor which, carried on, brings perfect har- 
mony and peace. This beautiful world in which 
we live is a dormitory of instruction, and in 
the various walks of life we find ourselves at 
times asking the important question, " Does it 
pay ? " In other words, there is a sense of de- 
sire for reward attached to the thought of labor. 
As an evidence of this we have only to look into 
the history of this beloved land to see how 
eagerly our forefathers engaged in a work un- 
selfishly that peerless man should be free. Work 
did win the day; but this labor was the price 
of liberty, and now we live in the grandest 
country in the world, which has attained the 
supreme heights of a leader in the canopy of 
nations. 

9 



10 Golden Grain 

Alexander Hamilton said : " Men give me 
credit for genius ; all the genius I have lies in 
this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it 
profoundly. Day and night it is before me ; I 
explore it in all its bearings ; my mind becomes 
pervaded with it Then the effect which I 
make, the people are pleased to call the fruit of 
genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought." 
He who prepares for the battle of life must 
understand in that preparation toil is not 
heeded ; but desiring to secure the laurels which 
bring sweet contentment, must plod on the way, 
working out his destiny in every moment of 
time. Even the supposed period of rest is but 
a pause in the rhyme of the music, to better 
fit one for the tasks with which, he daily meets, 
and better qualify him for the various prob- 
lems that need to be solved. 

The remarkable stores of learning accumu- 
lated by some of the great men in the past, and 
the various powers of their comprehensive 
minds in many different fields of thought; the 
facility with, which they have been able to ex- 
press themselves in clear, forcible, and enliven- 
ing language, decorated with flowers of illustra- 
tion and classical allusion, — in short, the powers 



Golden Grain 



11 



of oratory possessed by many of them by which 
senates and parliaments were held at will, and 
the admiring multitudes were led to cheer to 
the echo, were the results of patient, persever- 
ing toil by day and even by night. Lives of 
great men remind us that it is by patient toil 
we are led to fame and fortune; then it is we 
gain the spoil. 

Demosthenes, Csesar, Henry of France, 
Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Franklin, 
Washington, Napoleon, Grant, and others whom 
I might name, different in many ways intellec- 
tually and morally, were all renowned as hard 
workers. Think how early they rose; how 
many hours were spent at their respective 
duties, whether in the field, cabinet, or in their 
study. One of the most remarkable men Eng- 
land has produced, diplomatically, was Disraeli, 
who brought himself up from an obscure posi- 
tion until he reached the proudest almost to be 
obtained, that of premier of England. What 
was the secret ? — Hard work. At his country 
seat, where he was supposed to rest from the 
strain of public work, there he was busy in a 
plain room, reading, writing, and rehearsing 
the great speeches which forever made him fa- 



12 Golden Grain 

mous. When Turner, the great painter, was 
asked the secret of the success to which he at- 
tained by his marvelous productions on canvas, 
he replied, " I have no secret, but hard work." 

The scriptural quotation might be para- 
phrased, " Labor is the law of our being," and 
if there is no toil, there can be no reward. Work 
wins. It is blow after blow with the blacksmith, 
painting after painting with the artist, lesson 
after lesson with the scholar, that wins the 
desired portion — success. 

In a certain picture-gallery in Europe may 
be seen two paintings by the celebrated artist, 
Rembrandt. One is the first picture he ever 
painted, revealing, not a touch of the artist, but 
a kind of uncouth and unseemly thing, and 
what might be expected from a beginner; the 
other is one painted by him at the height of his 
fame, and a veritable masterpiece, showing the 
wonderful combinations of color, bringing out 
every detail to perfection, and showing what 
has made his name immortal as a great artist. 
What years of severe toil between the two pic- 
tures was only known to the man behind the 
brush, but there is revealed to all what can be 
surely ac<?oniplished by a steady detennination 



Golden Grain 13 

and continuous labor, whicli wins for the toiler 
fame and success. 

A very wise statesman was told by some one 
that his son was talented. He replied, " I would 
rather you had told me how industrious he 
was." So I am of the firm opinion that it is 
not so much talent as energy that differentiates 
persons. This is demonstrable when we care- 
fully study the lives of such men as I have men- 
tioned. The records clearly show they were 
prodigious workers. There are freaks in nature, 
but she generally fashions human beings out of 
the same soil; and her rigid laws reveal the 
truth that if any part of the body fails to get 
exercise, that portion will become useless. It 
has been said of Patrick Henry that he was an 
indolent and somewhat illiterate young lawyer, 
who at one bound reached a sublime height of 
genius with no preparation, when he made that 
eloquent revolutionary speech which caused ac- 
tivity in the ranks of peerless man. His rel- 
atives deny this, as they have revealed the truth 
that hard work was with him, as with others, 
the price of success. He had a fine library, was 
a good Latin and Greek scholar, and spent 
hours almost daily in hard study. 



14 Golden Grain 

The triumphs of work can never be fully 
recounted in this span of life, but they await 
the higher ideals on the other side of life. If 
with the earthly existence all activity should 
forever cease^ then it would seem that one 
should barely be repaid for the amount of time 
spent in arduous toil ; but when we think there 
is continuous existence, and that we but leave 
this lower school for a higher than the high 
school of earth, we are reminded that the knowl- 
edge gained in these experiences better fits us 
for our examination into the other course of 
instruction ; and thus reminded, we should 
apply ourselves with greater diligence to the 
progressive development of the mind which, 
retaining the things of the past, will be better 
fitted to grasp the untold beauties and glories 
of the land of golden dreams. 

No soul reaches higher heights of sublimity 
than the musician. Beethoven had the power, 
being trained to it, of concentrating his mind 
on his marvelous productions, until those won- 
derful creations of harmony became a part of 
himself. Over and over again he would medi- 
tate on his works, until he would succeed in 
making them what they are — models of per- 
fection. 



Golden Grain 15 

Wellington, the Iron Duke, and hero of 
Waterloo, said : " No one ever stumbled on a 
victory/' And you, young ladies and gentle- 
men, seated before me, by years of hard work 
can fully appreciate the saying of that noted 
general. It has taken years of labor and toil to 
gain what you this day possess, the kaowledge 
which will bring the recognition of your well- 
merited diploma. 

Perhaps you have read of that celebrated 
naturalist, Audubon, that man who gave to the 
world possibly the most comprehensive work in 
a certain department of natural history. Could 
this have been done without labor? He went 
off for years from the abodes of men, and 
plunging into the somber depths of the swamps 
and forests, commenced the toil which brought 
to the light the habits and traits of American 
birds. That he might gain the coveted prize, 
knowledge in natural history, he endured the 
taunts of the stranger, the distrust of friends, 
cold, hunger, and fatigue, but was finally re- 
warded, showing the motto of your class to be 
true — "Work wins." 

Alexander the Great desired his preceptor to 
prepare for him a shorter and easier way to 



16 Golden Grain 

learn geometry, but was informed that he would 
have to be satisfied in following the way that 
others had trod. 

In that wonderful allegory of Bunyan, the 
dreaming pilgrim once stood outside the door 
of a palace, '^ the entrance to which was dis- 
puted by armed men." The cry came, " Come 
in, come in, eternal glory thou shalt win ! " 
The pilgrim noticed a resolute man approach- 
ing. Drawing his sword, the warrior handled 
it with such an effect that the opposing forces 
were compelled to fall back, and he entered the 
palace in triumph. Thus you will ever find it 
in life. The temple of knowledge is beset with 
difficulties, and legions of obstacles are before 
the door. He who would enter in must pass 
the portals after fighting valiantly against every 
contending foe. Stand erect, and dare all 
things ; for he who fears is never made perfect 
in love, and the latt-er principle is the one that 
enters into the best and noblest of life's ideals. 
A love for the work will create intense desire to 
know, and the sweetening influences of the 
truth will carry on their work, until pleasurable 
sensations will awaken the soul's gratitude to 
praise. 



Golden Grain 17 

Fear not, should be your motto in all 
investigations; for then you shall know the 
truth, and the truth in science and religion shall 
make you free. If you are going to make a 
real success of life, then you must be free. If 
you permit circumstances to control you, then 
you may expect to be in servitude. It is only 
the one vv^ho rises superior to his surroundings 
that is free. Aspire and grasp the crown of 
self -consciousness, believing in the power within 
to carry you up the heights of the knowing and 
the knowable. Assert your kinship with the 
truth focused in the life of the sterling Naz- 
arene, and proclaim in word and action your 
individuality. Read men's thoughts in books 
galore, not to be merely imitators, but use them 
as helps to broader fields of discovery. 

In all things be independents, original think- 
ers, fearless investigators, allowing no fetters 
upon the mind, but anxious only to gain a 
knowledge of the real, press the suit with heart 
and brain to discover the needed whole. Be- 
lieve yourself to be a limitless affluence, a 
wholeness, a completeness, a power, a link in the 
forged chain of being united to the one perfect, 
the one whole, God. 



18 Golden Grain 

Tour past labor has but made room for more 
progressive work. The end of high-school days 
is but the beginning of greater usefulness, and 
to progress you must continually be on the move. 
If you have ever read Oliver Wendell Holmes's 
great poem, '^ The Chambered Nautilus/' you 
v^ill comprehend my meaning. The nautilus is 
a small sea animal, residing in a beautiful 
pearly shell. The shell is spiral-shaped, sym- 
metrical and graceful. Beginning at a point it 
starts to curve round and round, growing larger 
as the distance is increased from the center. In 
studying this dweller of the sea, we notice it 
begins with a small cell or chamber, at a point 
now the center of the large shell. It occupied 
for a time this small central cell contentedly; 
but after a season it became cramped, so it 
moved forward, and added a new room to its 
little house. After this new chamber was fin- 
ished the nautilus moved into it, and erected a 
pearly partition wall between, shutting off the 
old deserted parlor. Soon that got too small, and 
a third was added, until chamber after chamber 
was found necessary, each one larger than the 
preceding one. So may you keep making addi- 
tional rooms to your already well-furnished 



I 



Golden Grain 19 

parlor of knowledge. The past yoii must not 
discard, for all the previous buildings are nec- 
essary as experiences in the school of life. The 
nautilus has the chambers not now occupied by 
its presence, filled with a kind of gas lighter 
than air, and so it puts out to sea, and sails at 
will, the air-chambers sustaining and keeping it 
afloat. So may you thus profit by the study 
and experiences of the past, and use all to the 
onward movement of the life's unfoldment, 
grasping the thought of the closing stanza of 
Holmes's poem : — 

" Build thee more stately mansions, my soul, 

As the swift seasons roll! 

Leave thy low-vaulted past. 
Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, 

Till thou at last art free, 
Leaving thine outgrown shell by lifers unresting 



Young ladies and gentlemen, if you are going 
to be truly successful in life, you must carry 
the principle of your class motto into every 
phase of endeavor, and you will find that, like 
other things, true success is worth what it costs. 
All the struggle and toil through which you will 



20 Golden Grain 

go will be summed up in the elation of achieve- 
ment, in the sweetness of present and future 
fruitage. The seven additional years that Jacob 
served for Rachel had the tendency to make her 
all the more precious^ when once he was in pos- 
session of the coveted prize. 

When Hiram Powers, the first of American 
sculptors, was selling dry-goods in the tovm of 
Troy, he was said to be the best clerk in the 
store. At that time, unconsciously, he was 
plodding his way to his studio in Rome. You 
may be sure '^ Edison was a good train boy," 
Benjamin Franklin took interest in his work at 
the printer's case, and Lincoln a faithful rail- 
splitter, before they rose to be leading factors 
in their respective fields in this nation. You 
may not gain the best possible positions at the 
commencement of the journey, but whatever 
you do, put your best efforts into the work as- 
signed, however himable the calling, and you 
will ultimately find your places in the social 
fabric, and fill the same. Concentrate the best 
you have to the present position, for you can 
only do one thing at a time. That peerless ad- 
vocate of the resurrection, Paul, said, ^^ Thi? 
one thing I do." In other words, he bent all 



Golden Grain 21 

the powers of his noble mind for the prize. He 
was honest His purpose was pure, and Paul 
was a success. 

Jane Addams was informed by the doctors 
that she had only six months to live. ^^All 
right/' she said, " I will take that six months 
to get as near as I can to doing the one thing I 
want to do for humanity." That was fifteen 
years ago, and she is still alive and well. In 
the meantime she has been successful in having 
formulated and set in motion the Hull House 
Settlementj and possibly has done more good 
for the moral uplift of Chicago than police and 
clergy combined. Place yourselves in that 
statuvolic condition, whereby your faculties 
may be extremely active or entirely passive, as 
the case may demand, and you have approached 
a concentration that leads to doing what will 
bring reward. You can never soar until you 
have wings ; and wings grow not until we dare 
to live. Dare, then, to be, for there is nothing 
to fear if the soul is clean. Drink of the mys- 
teries that are found in every stream, rather 
than in any way confine the beautiful sponta- 
neity of the soul to narrow limits. 

There is no standing still in nature, she does 



22 Golden Grain 

the one thing at a time, and does it well; but 
there is an evolutionary process. One lesson 
at a time you must learn; but application to 
that one prepares the mind to study the next, 
so there is an endless chain being forged, and 
successive links are put together by the active, 
plodding, diligent, self-sacrificing student. 
Progress is the order of the day, but the start is 
from the little, then the great may be attained. 
The next thing that comes to you, do it with all 
your might. Focus every thought for the pur- 
pose of doing the noblest and the best ; eliminate 
the baser self, but assert the true selfhood, with 
a purpose that Avavers not; a faith that never 
falters, and a desire to win. That liberal, pro- 
gressive, independent individuality will lead to 
the emancipation of the mind from the weird 
fancies of those who think they have a copyright 
on all there is worth knowing. 

Some would like to have this life made up of 
one grand anthem, but it is composed of ups 
and doT\Tis. We are so constituted in our na- 
tures that variety is essential in our physical 
and mental make-ups. Changes, true^ indeed, 
are wholesome things, so do not then discour- 
aged be ; the rough and the smooth are elements 



Golden Grain 23 

that enter into the needs of earthly denizens. 
Vibrations might be so uniform that one would 
soon wear out. Engines that make long runs 
over perfectly level roads soon wear out, while 
those that at times must face the incline keep 
longer at the work. The horse that always 
travels on the level is laid aside before the one 
that at times has some hills to climb. Just 
strike the one note on a musical instrument 
for any length of time and your hearers will be 
driven mad. Inertia, obstruction, obstacle, op- 
position, to the overcomer will make the king- 
dom sweeter be, when with a fixedness of pur- 
pose, a determinate and resolute will, the stu- 
dent of progress presses on in the struggle for 
that which is highest and best in life. 

In the beginning of life, dedicate yourselves 
to the service of God, and following in the 
footsteps of the Saviour of the race, you will 
attain the spiritual Alps of divine excellence, 
and rest in the peace which passeth all imder- 
standing. Work wins, but only when the three- 
fold nature is developed. Religion will produce 
the beautiful and harmonious growth of all 
that is noble and true internal. In the will of 
Patrick Henry these words were found : '' I 



24 Golden Grain 

have now disposed of all my property to my 
family. There is one thing more I wish I 
could give them, and that is the Christian relig- 
ion ; if they had that, and I had not given them 
one shilling, they would be rich ; bnt if they had 
not that, and I had given them all the world, 
they would be poor." Put your trust in Him 
who is the bond of security, — the Eock of Ages, 
the sun of brightest splendor, the Sun of Right- 
eousness, — Christ, the Saviour of the world. 

You started in school life not knowing what 
the outcome would be, but with a determination 
to succeed. The rainbow of promise was vis- 
ible in the sky of truth, as the sun kissed the 
tears of labor into the blended colors of that 
beautiful arch. Xow your high-school days are 
ended, and the coveted prize is won. Some may 
enter other schools of learning in order to better 
prepare for life's great conflicts ; but of one 
thing be assured, your labors while on earth 
shall never cease. In the early dawn of each 
day it may be well to quote this everlasting and 
truthful motto: ''Work wins.'' 



A THANKSGIVING DISCOUESE 

We are met on this occasion to render praise 
and adoration unto the God of all grace, who 
has so wonderfully guided and guarded us 
through another year. The fading leaf is an 
object-lesson of dissolution. Yet life is the force 
that comes from the Kuler of all ; so we stand 
upon the verge of the dying year, on this day 
of Thanksgiving, to mingle our voices in imi- 
son of praise to Him who has preserved us with 
the blessings of health and strength, so that we 
are able to go about our daily avocations, with 
continued good cheer breathing into our lives 
the inspiration of hope, that star to wanderers 
weary, which shines like a beacon-light in this 
world of change. The psalm from which our 
text is taken is one of thanksgiving. It chimes 
like the bell that calls the faithful worshipers to 
the house of praise. It is the rising sun usher- 
ing in the dawn of day, the lighthouse to 
weary mariners on life's rough sea. Often has 
my voice mingled with others far over the deep 
blue sea, in this psalm so beautifully para- 
phrased. Thus it is befitting that we this 
morning should make a joyful noise unto the 

25 



26 Golden Grain 

Lord, and recount some of the blessings be- 
stowed upon us during the past year. To 
enumerate all the good sent from above would 
be impossible, so we shall be satisfied mth 
noticing a few of the many things for which we 
should be thankful : As a nation ; As a church ; 
As individuals. 

As a nation we should be thankful for our 
abundant resources. Truly the lines have 
fallen to us in pleasant places. Xo other nation 
se^ms to have such glittering constellations in 
its canopy as ours. A wall around us, shutting 
off all intercourse with other peoples, if selfish 
we should be inclined, would only show how rich 
in means of sustenance we are. Xo famine 
with its robe of black stalks through our land, 
but from the Eastern door to the golden gates 
of the West there is enough and to spare in 
the support of our people. Indeed, the hands 
that help have been raised in the supplication of 
a practical religion by feeding the famishing 
multitudes in other lands who have raised the 
cry for help, so that the eyes of the world have 
been turned to us as they have gazed upon the 
ships leaving our ports, laden with the rich 



Golden Grain 27 

fruits of our land, to feed the starving, hungry 
multitudes in India and China. Such liberality 
and helpfulness in the hour of extreme need 
increase heaven's blessing upon the donors, and 
some shall hear in a brighter world than this, 
words sublime and cheering : ^^ I was hungry, 
and ye gave me meat." 

Our crops in general have been good, and 
homes made happy at the sight of plenty^ The 
Eastern manufacturer sings his song of grati- 
tude; the Western farmer joins in the sweet 
refrain of praise and thanksgiving. It may not 
have been all sunshine, but who can look upon 
the dark cloud without thinking of the sun 
behind the vail soon to shed its beams of light 
and warmth over all the earth ? It is truly a 
land of milk and honey. Fuel is stored in the 
earth and obtained with more ease than ever, 
as machinery is employed for the purpose of 
mining, so that man, the highest thought of 
God, can rest while the work is being done. 
Who can estimate the rich treasures under- 
ground amassed, or calculate the trophies of our 
ore in silver, gold, and other valuable metals ? 
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, 



28 Golden Grain 

so unto Him do we render thanks for those in- 
estimable riches stored away in ages past for the 
good of humanity. 

Again, we should be thankful for our ad- 
vancement along the lines of science. Some 
one has said, '' Ignorance is weakness ; knowl- 
edge is power." Science, the true handmaid of 
our holy religion, is making rapid progress in 
her onward march to victory. The darkness is 
disappearing, the sun has risen on our fair land, 
and the golden tints may be seen in the west. 
A few years ago, the noted statesman^ Glad- 
stone, in talking to Edison, referred to the fact 
that this great land was in the lead scientif- 
ically. The day of investigation has dawned, 
and we can not afford to lag behind, as knowl- 
edge calls us onward and upward to the dawn- 
ing of a golden day. Science stretches the 
magic wand, and electricity lights the world. 
She connects continents, and voices greet our 
ears, although the speakers may be thousands 
of miles aw^ay. Then along the line of mind- 
culture there is decided improvement. He who 
has been created in God's image is rising to 
higher conceptions of the truth, as found in the 
realm of mind. Man, to know himself, must 



Golden Grain 29 

investigate tlie inner workings of that wonder- 
ful machine, the brain. The great universal 
law of the Creator that rules in this workshop, 
in its magnetic operations controls to a certain 
degree the organs of the body, and makes them 
subservient to its decrees. The past year has 
been one of deep thought and practical investi- 
gation in this realm of beauty and activity, so 
that I believe we are standing upon the thresh- 
old of the rosy dawning of a grander day. Al- 
ready the constellations sparkle like jewels in 
the sky of truth, and doubt is giving place to 
faith and reality. The mind that is not bound 
by prison bars of prejudice and fables of the 
past, is in the lead, and will wing its flight to 
higher heights of light and truth. Freedom to 
think as God thinks, to do as He commands, 
should be the van-thoughts of this progressive 
age. God has opened to us two great books, 
the book of revelation and the book of nature. 
To refuse to scan the pages of either, is fatal to 
our best interests and higher enjoyments in 
life. He as it wiere graciously hands both to 
us, and virtually says, ^^ Take, read, my will is 
here revealed.'' Hence a truth discovered in 
the great book of nature is just as sacred as one 



30 Golden Grain 

in Eevelatlon ; and just so far as we peruse the 
book of nature scientifically, and obey the uni- 
versal la^ws operating therein, so shall our lives 
be marked by a higher degree of intelligence, 
and we ourselves made to drink at the fountain 
of physical life, as this life comes into har- 
mony with the natural truth. The gates are 
open wdde, and many stand without fearful and 
halting, w^hen it might be said scientifically, 
^' Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and 
into these natural courts with praise." We 
rejoice for what has been accomplished during 
the past year in the advancement of science, 
and give the universal praise and thanksgiving 
to our Father in heaven. 

As a nation we should be thankful for 
our philanthropic men. Not waiting until the 
dark shadows of physical death throw their 
pallor over us, but in the midst of life and ac- 
tivity, millions have been given away the past 
year, for the betterment of our youth in this 
land of promise. Institutions of learning have 
received large sums of money to increase their 
usefulness, and better equip them for the edu- 
cation of the youth. As knowledge is power, 
so those channels through which it comes are 



Golden Grain 31 

bulwarks of safety to our nation. Who can tell 
the mighty influences for good that have been 
started by the donors, who have thus made it 
possible to increase the grandeur and sublimity 
of those halls of light. Libraries stocked with 
the best books have been brought into existence 
by those hearts touched by love and kindness, 
so that the many, who have not the facilities for 
obtaining higher education in colleges and imi- 
versities, may develop their latent and mental 
powers by reading the best of literature. Not 
only so, but those who have thus donated gifts 
to such things open asylums of refuge which 
will to a certain extent bar the door to places of 
sin and vice in city life. Our civic life is thus 
made to feel the universal good which has been 
accomplished through the generosity of the 
friends of the people who have given so liber- 
ally for the cause of light and truth. Where is 
the country that has been so blest in the distri- 
bution of wealth for the purposes heretofore 
named ? It is as if the messenger of kindness 
had inspired hearts to dispose of glittering gold 
into channels which will bring more real wealth 
to the nation than stocks and bonds in Wall 
Street's grasping hand. It is wealth of mind ; 



32 Golden Grain 

for stored in the vault of the brain^ knowledge, 
with its silver disks and golden trimmings, will 
lead our nation to greater conquests than im- 
plements of w^ar, as we march to higher intellec- 
tual attainments and greater achievements in 
science, industry, and art. 

Again, as a nation we should be thankful 
for our relative peace and era of internal good 
feeling. Never perhaps in the history of this 
country was there such a universal feeling of 
real brotherhood. After or during the Span- 
ish war, sectionalism received a stunning blow ; 
and when the hand of an assassin dared to 
strike at the office of president, all sections 
were brought into mutual sympathy. Shall we 
now say there is no K'orth, no South, but one 
great brotherhood of man? We deeply de- 
plored tbe awful calamity which overtook us 
but a few months ago, when the executive was 
threatened by the tyranny of anarchy. No man 
forfeited his life as a citizen, but it was a blow 
at all government, and the right of the enforce- 
ment of law. Still, the God who ruleth over 
all may have permitted this to come upon us to 
obliterate all sectional lines, and make us one 
great universal nation. Hence we have rea- 



Golden Grain 33 

son to be thankful as we enter the gates of 
peace, and come into God's courts wjith praise. 
No grander day has ever dawned on this fair 
land. In years gone by what storms, what 
tempests wild ! Look at the Congressional Rec- 
ords of the years 1830, 1837, 1860. In fierce 
debate men of earnest purpose and indomitable 
will were arrayed against each other, until war 
of words ended in war with swords, which cast 
a somber mantle over our land, and thousands 
of our bravest sons fell in the hour of battle. 
The day may dawn when arbitration will settle 
all disputes, and civilized nations learn the art 
of war no more. 

When William Penn was about to leave 
England for America, King Charles II said: 
'' I will not send a single soldier with you." 
The Quaker retorted by saying : " I w^ant none 
of your soldiers, I depend on something better.'' 
The king, anxious to find out the secret of his 
dependence, inquired as to the source of help. 
Penn, the Christian, exclaimed : " On the In- 
dians themselves, on their moral sense, and on 
the protection of God." Eeaders of history 
know that for seventy years the treaty was kept 
inviolable; and may we not look for the gran- 



34 Golden Grain 

der dawning of that brighter day when we shall 
recognize the universal brotherhood of man ? 
for as one has said, " The best thing you can do 
with a man is to save him, and the worst thing 
you can do with a man is to kill him." It 
behooves us, then, on this glad day of worship 
to enter into God's gates with thanksgiving and 
into His courts with praise, as we look at our 
internal relations, and see with gratitude in 
our hearts that no year has witnessed such a 
cementing of hearts as the one through which 
we have passed in sorrow and joy. 

As a church, for our onward march and 
steady growth in practical Christianity. Faith 
and works are more closely allied to-day than 
in any previous history of that blessed institu- 
tion, founded for the purpose of causing uni- 
versal righteousness. The church forgets not 
her prayer and Te Deum; but the helping hand 
is raised not only in supplication to heaven's 
King, but to humanity, whose needs are many 
in this terrestrial sphere. Love seems like a 
gleaming star, leading the way, shining not 
only upon a world of bliss hereafter, but find- 
ing for poor, helpless, wounded, bleeding hu- 
manity a paradise in this. The sound of voice 



Golden Grain 35 

testimony may not be so loud, but the ear of 
listening love can catch the strains of sweeter 
music in real helpfulness. The church can see 
through the rifted cloud the form of that Christ 
who went about doing good, and listening love 
can always hear the rustle of an angel's wing, 
as from the land of promise comes the voice so 
gentle and so sweet, " I was an hungered, and 
ye fed me; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink; a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, 
and ye clothed me.'' Less pomp and display 
may be seen, yet there is the real devotion to 
our fellow-men. More real service from love 
to God and man, far less of slavish fear, marks 
this year through which we are now passing. 
The ingredients that make up real spiritual 
life are not in outward forms and ceremonies, 
however necessary in their places such may be. 
That real inward piety of the soul, that robes 
itself not in somber dress, but joyful garments, 
is touched wpith the needs of those human beings 
that cry for help; and if their cry is heard in 
heaven above, surely on earth beneath some 
help may then be found. Never were there 
more consecrated hearts than now are to be 
found allievating the sufferings of the human 



36 Golden Grain 

race. The church with her leavening power 
will yet dominate the world, as messages of 
hope and good cheer are being carried to the 
nations of the earth. 

Our hymn-writers have done and are doing 
much to make us more practical in religious 
matters. Augustine but voices the sentiment of 
every Christian heart in his Confessions : '' The 
hymns and songs of thy church moved my soul 
intensely; thy truth was distilled by them into 
my heart; the flame of piety was kindled, and 
my tears flowed for joy." Toplady's polemics 
have been covered with books of greater wealth ; 
his hymns remain as bright stars in the 
church's canopy. Perhaps the great movement 
set on foot by the Wesleys is as much honored 
by the seven thousand hymns composed by 
Charles as by the spiritual sermons of John. 
" Children/' said the dying mother of the Wes- 
leys, " as soon as I am released, sing a song of 
praise to God," and over that sainted mother's 
lifeless body they sang a song of victory. 
" Rock of Ages," was the death song of Prince 
Albert of England ; '' Nearer, my God, to 
Thee," that of our beloved President William 
McKinley, who passed to rest some time ago. 



Golden Grain 37 

Sacred song has stirred to nobler, holier effort 
in the cause of a practical Christianity. The 
world has often looked for the real practical 
side of religion, and has heard a prayer to feed 
the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the 
perishing, but looked in vain for aid from those 
who were able to give. We are now seeing with 
our eyes the glory of the church in real helpful- 
ness; not only in refraining from anger and 
malice, but showing kindness, mercy, and a dis- 
position to do good. This morning we enter 
our Father's gates with thanksgiving and His 
courts with praise for the church's steady 
growth in practical help. 

As individuals we have abundant rea- 
son to be thankful to Almighty God for the 
special blessings vouchsafed to us the past year. 
As a child leans upon an earthly father for 
support, and in the hour of dread puts his hand 
in the hand of one who is able to hold him, so I 
trust as individuals we have hold of the strong 
hand of our Saviour, saying : — 



" Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, 
Lead Thou me on! 



38 Golden Grain 

The night is dark, and I am far from home— 

Lead Thou me on ! 
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene — one step's enough for me/' 

It would be a question of supreme difficulty 
to enumerate the special dispensations of provi- 
dential dealings which have been our lot in 
days gone by. Health and strength and light 
and knowledge and pure thoughts and holy as- 
pirations have made their impressions upon us. 
Like the flowers which shed their sweet per- 
fume upon the balmy air, our lives have been 
sweetened with the aroma of heaven. Like the 
suUj Avhose chemical rays give life to vegeta- 
tion, so tbe Sun of Kighteousness has poured 
into us that eternal life which gives warmth 
and beauty, banishing the darkness, and bring- 
ing light and harmony to all who obey. As 
the sweetness of the lily fair, whose petals bear 
the dewdrops in the morning hours, cheers the 
weary toiler on life's highway, so the Lily of 
the Valley and the Eose of Sharon, names for 
Him we love most dear, charm us, as the days 
go by in life's gay morn. If in our lives there 
reigns the spirit of praise and thanksgiving 



Golden Grain 39 

unto Him who died and rose victorious from the 
grave, then like a beautiful river whose banks 
are shaded with trees evergreen, our lives will 
flow onward into a waveless sea, where there 
is rest forever. 

A song of Thanksgiving to Jesus our king 

We sing on this glad holy day; 
For all the past blessings we make the bells ring, 

And joyfully walk the highway 
That leads to yon land where the clear crystal sea 

Is never disturbed by a wave; 
For that is the land of the pure and the free, 

For whom God a ransom He gave. 



JUST SLEEPIXG 

** Weep not ; she is not dead, but sleepeth/' Luke 
S : 52. 

Wz are gathered in the house of mourning. 
A sympathetic and loving Christ has been called 
to the home in the hour of grief and loneliness. 
Amid the busy, stirring scenes of life he has 
been instructing and admonishing the people, 
when suddenly there comes upon the scene a 
ruler, grief-stricken and heart-broken, saying, 
•' My daughter is even now dead.'' Go with me 
then to yonder home in Palestine, where the 
messenger of death has come and laid his cold 
hand upon the loved one whose voice is silent, 
and friends are mourning. 

Seated around the couch on which Kes the 
loved and cherished, may be found a father and 
mother, looking with anxiety upon the face of 
her who has been the star of hope in the home. 
She was the only daughter, sweet, and tender, 
and loving, whose presence made the family 
circle complete. How, then, would it be pos- 
sible to give her up ? While life was in the 
frail l>ody there was still hope in the hearts of 
40 



Golden Grain 41 

those who tenderly watched by the bedside of 
the sufferer. At times the hand of mother or 
father would be gently laid upon the fevered 
brow, and some sweet wjords would accompany 
the touch. At last that mystery we call life is 
followed by the mystery we term death, and the 
form is cold and still. See how eagerly friends 
stoop down, or kneel, to catch the last faint 
whisper of the voice so soft and low, and the 
good-bys have all been said, the eyes are closed 
and hands are folded, and over that home hang 
somber clouds and hearts as dark as the night- 
No stars are there, while down the crimson 
cheeks of those bereaved flow tears of sorrow, 
grief, and pain. Kind friends are there to sym- 
pathize and seek to comfort hearts thus bleed- 
ing, as the night of sorrow still continues dark 
as ever. Methinks the very songs of birds, when 
morning dawns, but pain and grieve the droop- 
ing, disconsolate, prostrate hearts. 

Oh, sad and weary ones, in life's gay mom, 
when tired and troubled in this world of pain 
and parting, is there no refuge nigh? The 
winds that blow( a perfect gale, and threaten 
with fierce moan to scatter discord and ruin all 
around, are only different in degree to the 



42 Golden Grain 

gentle zephyrs that fan the cheek upon a sum- 
mer's day. It may be, then, when clouds are 
the blackest, and life seems the saddest, that be- 
hind all there stands a blessed Providence. 
And while tired by the wayside on life's dusty 
highway, in the sky of life a star shines in bril- 
liancy, bringing hope and light; causing in- 
cense, and sweetness, and beauty, as you walk 
through the shadow of this terrestrial sphere. 
That star, the Star of Bethlehem; that hope 
and light and incense and sweetness filling 
you with thoughts of the better land. A voice 
is heard in your anguish and sadness, saying: 
^^ Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth." 

How sweet are these words to friends be- 
reaved, when loved ones leave this lower stage, 
and cross " death's gloomy portals ! " The 
boatman pale has scarcely dipped the oar to 
row the frail bark over the Jordan when there 
sounds upon our ears sweet words of promise, 
and the sun that sets in the western sky with 
yellow light reveals the golden dawning of some 
brighter clime, where suns no more set, and life 
is one round of uninterrupted joy and felicity. 

In the discussion of this beautiful text we 
are reminded that, — 



Golden Grain 43 

Death resembles sleep, because of cessation 
from labor. How weary and tired and dis- 
tressed we become in our toiling and wailing 
in this world! The laborer returns from his 
daily toil, where he has had to face the stern 
realities of life in the battle for bread. How 
refreshing, after having been at work all day, 
to lie down at night. Scarcely has the head 
rested upon the pillow than off into dreamland 
the mind wends its way, and the wearied, tired 
hands are ready again for ^^rk at the dawning 
of the morning. Or perhaps it is the school- 
girl with her books in the evening hour, work- 
ing out in her mind some mathematical prob- 
lem. Wearily she lays aside the book at a late 
hour, and seeks repose to calm and soothe the 
overworked brain. At the song of the early 
birds she wakes refreshed and ready for the 
labors of another day. Were it not that sleep 
had charmed and eased the mind, life physical 
would soon pass away. But rest has followed 
labor, and once more the brain is ready for 
activity. In sleep there has been cessation; 
hence, in death " they cease from their labor, 
and their works do follow them.'' 

Here we have the idea of rest : — 



44 Golden Grain 

" We are but childi-en crying here upon a mother's 

breast, 
For life and peace and blessedness, and for eternal 

rest! 
Bless God, I hear a still small voice above life's 

clamorous din. 
Saying, faint not, weary one, thou yet may'st 

enter in. 

" That city is prepared for those that well do win 

the fight. 
Who tread the w^inepress till its blood hath washed 

their garments white; 
It lieth calm within the light of God's peace-giving 

breast ; 
Its walls are called Salvation, the city's name is 

Rest." 

^Vhat is the great thought of the hmnan 
heart ? Is it not to find rest ? Amid the trials 
that we meet and scenes of activity there 
springs up in the life the hope that this fret 
and hurry and worry will not always last. So 
when life's burdens are all laid down, we know 
" there remaineth a rest to the people of God.'' 
In this wtorld, stained by sin, we have even a 
foretaste of rest in the midst of labor for the 
Master. We find it necessary to go into some 
quiet, secluded place to have refreshment for 



Golden Grain 45 

the journey, yet this is but a very faint resem- 
blance to that cessation that takes place in the 
hour of dissolution. It is now the morning of 
a brighter day, and sweet sleep has quietly 
claimed the child of God, and in this hour we 
sing : — 

"Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep, 
From which none ever wakes to weep; 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes/' 

Labor here below is ended, where storm and 
peace, tempest and labor, assault and defiance, 
defeat and victory, have held alternate sway, 
and like a candle suddenly put out, the life ter- 
minates, and there is a full period. Then how 
like natural sleep is the death of the Christian. 
No eternal cessation, but simply asleep for the 
night, while the stars still hold their courses, 
and the moon like a silver crescent shines on, 
lighting the path for the weary toiler returning 
to his home at the close of day, where he is 
greeted with the glad welcome from hearts 
full of love ; returning at the hour of sleep to 
refresh his weary, tired frame. So the Chris- 
tian on life's great field of battle begins the day 



46 Golden Grain 

in activity, watching and guarding and fight- 
ing the '' good fight of faith/' sometimes 
against overwhelming odds. Any wonder is it, 
then, that tired with the day's work he desires 
to depart and be with Christ, where activity is 
rest, and no pain or sorrow, sadness, or disap- 
pointment, can ever come ? For in the light of 
eternal day the tired traveler rests with the 
smile of approval, because in this world he had 
discovered the secret that all who would have 
quiet and rest from toil must first of all seek 
the One who came to give rest to the weary 
and heavy-laden; so that when life's day was 
ended here below, like Stephen of old, he might 
fall asleep, and rest from, the toiling here in thi? 
world. 

. Again, death resembles sleep because of its 
quietude and peace. 

Walk softly, tread lightly, " she is not dead, 
but sleepeth." Look upon the still form. The 
eyes are closed, the hands folded, and a smile 
plays over the peaceful countenance. She 
sleeps ; disturb her not, until the Saviour's voice 
shall summon again the spirit into its rightful 
habitation. As the three disciples, Peter, James, 
and John, with the father and mother of the 



Golden Grain 47 

maiden, entered yon room with the Prince of 
Peace, I fancy that their voices are subdued, 
and the foot treads lightly in the presence of the 
dead. At last the grief is too great, and it is 
impossible to hold in check the feelings, and 
down the cheeks roll the tears as you have seen 
the dewdrops stand like jewels on the blades of 
grass. A voice then speaks, and friends, who 
realize the loss of this fair damsel hear : " Weep 
not; she is not dead, but sleepeth." Can this 
be sleep ? Then let me but touch the hand or 
kiss the pale cheek, that into crimson it may 
turn. Yes, often we have entered that room 
before, and gently stealing up to the couch on 
which the daughter lay, we looked into the face 
of her whose merry laugh and joyful talk were 
sunshine to the home; and as we looked upon 
her now so peaceful and so quiet, we said, '' She 
sleeps! " So listen! She but sleeps again, al- 
though so soundly that only one voice can wake 
her from her slumbers sweet. It is the voice 
of Jesus. Having pillowed her head upon the 
bosom of her Saviour, she sleeps imtil he speaks : 
" Maid, arise ! " And lo, the spirit comes 
again; and see, the bloom of health is there. 
So, weep not, I say to-day; weep not. The 



48 Golden Grain 

Saviour's voice shall again be heard, and on 
the resurrection day our friends and loved ones 
who have fallen asleep in Christ shall hear hiiu 
say, "Arise!" 

And what a glad morning that will be; 
The king of beauty we shall see. 
Sleep peaceful now, changed to waking. 
We shall rest in love at home. 

Again, death resembles sleep in the thought 
of waking. 

The good-night kiss has been given, and the 
children go to sleep, thinking perhaps of the 
coming day. Thus do God's children, saved 
by grace, fall asleep in the night of death. 
But we anticipate a glorious dawning. The 
thought of waking, or the resurrection, clothes 
the tomb with flowers of unfading beauty, and 
such hope inspires the life of every one who 
begins the Christian race. Here is joy for 
the depressed, light for the troubled, peace 
for the restless, and hope for all who fall asleep 
in Jesus. The night would we darker if there 
were no day. But l-eside the departing stands 
One who once was crowned with thorns, whose 
hands and feet were pierced by cruel nails, and 



Golden Grain 49 

He it is who speaks and calms the troubled soul : 
'' Let not your hearts be troubled ; ye believe 
in God, bqlieve also in me. In my Father's 
house are many mansions/' etc. Suppose that 
in this hour, when cruel death comes to our 
homes and takes the loved and dearest, no star 
of hope should in the distant sky be seen, how 
dark and dreary would this world be. With- 
out a chart to guide us over life's tempestuous 
ocean, our frail and weather-beaten bark would 
onward glide into some nameless sea. ISTo light 
to guide our wandering feet amid the obstacles 
that lie in the pathway from the cradle to the 
grave ! JSTo sun to send its gladdening rays to 
cheer and brighten human life ! In the still, 
sad hour of death we sit and ponder over lights 
and shadows, yet in that hour hope exulting 
rises in the human heart. Faith sees a star 
that glitters like a jewel in the sky of truth, 
and hears the rustle of an angel's wing, as 
from the land of promise comes the words of 
comfort and of consolation, '' She is not dead, 
but sleepeth." Surely, then, there is some 
better morning in some other land, where shad- 
ows never darken homes of love, and the crystal 
sea is not disturbed by storm or tempest. Yes, 



50 Golden Grain 

there is a clime, and resurrection morning 
will follow the sleep of death. There we shall 
meet in sweet communion no more to sever. 
Here we expect parting. Where is the garden 
that has not lost a flower ? Where the home that 
has not lost, or will not lose, some one beloved ? 
Some of the most beautiful flowiers, whose fra- 
grance was as heaven's own incense, have been 
transplanted, and in glory now they bloom. The 
aroma from their lives still sweetens and makes 
fragrant other lives with whom they need to 
come into contact. And on that fair morning, 
when the resurrection trumpet shall call the 
sleeping dead, how glad we shall be to greet 
them once more as we shall walk and talk on 
the golden shore, where there shall be no more 
heartaches, for we shall be forever with the 
Lord. 

And now, in conclusion, let me briefly speak 
a word of eulogy about this sweet daughter, 
sister, friend, whose lamp of life on earth has 
been extinguished. Here lies the casket that 
contained the jewel. Yonder fair land, where 
angels dwell and play on harps, the jewel lives 
that once inhabited the casket. While in life's 
morning she paused by the wayside, and being 



Golden Grain 51 

weary with the journey, fell asleep. While 
enraptured with the life that now is, she passed 
quietly away to the life that is beyond, where 
there are sunnier skies; for she loved the sun- 
shine, and seemed to think that in this climate 
the sky was so often overshadowed by clouds. 
She loved to gaze upon the pretty flowers and 
handle the rose with care, drinking into her 
life its beauty and sweet fragrance. jSTow she 
rests in yon fair Eden, " where the flowers 
bloom forever,'' and their aroma scents the 
paradise of God. Her sun had scarcely risen 
in the eastern sky until it set in the west ; but 
the bright and beau^tiful tints there reveal the 
night when the morning shall have a golden 
dawning. Sweet and tender and gentle and 
loving, her life was like a dream whose waking 
is joy forever. The cold, cold grave is not her 
home. There only the dust shall find its 
abiding place. Her spirit rests in heaven, the 
blest home of the saints. 



OUR BELOVED DEAD 

Ever since the fatal sentence was pro- 
nounced upon man, this world has become a 
vast charnel-house of the dead. From dust 
to dust the outer tabernacle goes, and mother 
earth is replenished by the bodies of the count- 
less dead. 'No day but what the pulse of the 
dying is felt by hands accustomed to the work ; 
no night but what sorrowing ones stand around 
the bedside of their loved and cherished to 
await the summons we call death. The sky is 
clouded over, and tears like raindrops fall from 
many an eye ; yet this relentless foe carries on 
his work, caring not for the cry of the orphan, 
or the sad and forlorn look of the widow. His 
sword is never sheathed. 

^^ Leaves have their time to fall, 

And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, 
And stars to set, but all. 

Thou hast all seasons for thine own, 
death.'' 

In spring all nature rises into bud and blos- 
som. The trees which have been desolated of 
52 



Golden Grain 53 

their foliage are now clad in a mantle of green, 
and the great painter has no need for the brush 
to decorate the flower with tints of various 
hues. All rest in beauty and harmony be- 
neath a summer sky, whose sun sheds forth its 
gladdening rays to cheer and brighten human 
life. Amid all this, one heartless agent holds 
high carnival. Seated on his pale charger, 
more sanguine than an Alexander or a Caesar, 
he carries on warfare against human life, re- 
gardless of friend or foe. Heeding not the lam- 
entations of the bereaved, he visits the hamlet 
of the poor and the courtly palace of the rich. 
Sometimes when the sun just sinks beneath the 
western hills, and the aged pilgrim looks back 
over the past, death feels for the heart-strings 
and claims the life physical. At other times, 
just in the ^' happiest, sunniest hour of all the 
voyage, while eager winds are kissing every 
sail," the boatman pale calls anchor now, and 
in the dark, dismal night, life's voyage is ended 
here below, where storm and tempest often come 
while sailing this terrestrial sea. My text is 
suggestive of the thought of — 

Severance of earthly ties. A few more 
years shall roll, and loved ones shall be left to 



54 Golden Grain 

mourn our loss. No home shall be exempt from 
this severance. How dear are those ties that 
bind us to this earthly home. Yonder is a 
child for whom we prayed and labored and 
endured, whose scampering feet and prattling 
tongue brought sunshine to the home and heart. 
How hard to part Avith such an angel in human 
form. But one day the Father stooped down, 
and lifted the angelic form to where there is a 
sunnier sky. Or perhaps it was a life about 
to blossom into the most beautiful flower. But 
who shall say the Gardener had not the best 
right to transplant this frail plant into more 
congenial soil, where the chemical rays of the 
Sun of Righteousness will give beauty and 
growth forever more. But how hard it was to 
bear the pain of parting. It caused the tears 
of sorrow to flow like brooklets down the crim- 
son cheeks, and the home was changed, as when 
dark clouds obscure the sun before some tem- 
pest blast, when birds seek shelter and their 
songs are hushed while nature is at war with 
disease. Thus the pain of parting no one knows 
until brought face to face with death. Then 
it is we stand upon the shore bidding adieu to 
the passenger embarked for another clime. 



Golden Grain 55 

The good-bys have all been said, and cherished 
hope perishes within the breast of those upon 
the shore. Down the dark river the bark sails 
on, and soon, too soon, w^e realize that earthly 
ties have been severed. No more will the chil- 
dren suddenly cease their play to run and meet 
their father, whose home-coming brings joy and 
gladness to their hearts, and whose kiss upon 
the dimpled cheek causes the blush of the rose. 
No more will the husband and wife meet each 
other at the threshold with sweet words of wel- 
come, whose hearts knit together with the 
strongest of all ties throbbed with gladness ; for 
" he shall return no more to his house, neither 
shall his place know him any more." Others 
will miss him wjaen earthly ties are severed. 
The poet has said : — 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene 

The darkest, unfathomed caves of ocean bear, 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air/' 

I fail to endorse all there said. I believe 
there is no life but what has its influence. 
There is the good and the evil connected with 
every human being. Let us see the good. No 



56 Golden Grain 

flower that ever bloomed in this earthly par- 
adise has wasted its sweetness. Every life has 
been touched with the aroma of heaven, and 
has given out the fragrant and balmy perfume 
to some other life. The image of the great 
Maker of us all may have been marred by sin, 
but there was some sweetness and gentleness 
and love that caused other lives to blossom and 
bud and become fruit-bearing. Our companion- 
ships, when congenial, give warmth and luster 
to the life that now is, and when suddenly 
broken up, we are pained and grieved at the 
parting. Here in the workshop, yonder behind 
the counter, or in the quiet of the evening, we 
met, and pleasant were the morning or evening 
gi'eetings. Life, though not all sunshine, had 
its coruscations and glory. Whether at work 
or play there were beams of sunshine in good 
fellowship and fraternal hospitality ; sympathy, 
amiability, warmth of heart, and brotherly love 
were displayed. It is just like us to remember 
the kind words spoken and the actions that 
louder speak in assisting and helping in the try- 
ing hours of need. Hence in this solemn, sad 
hour, when those near and dear have hearts that 
bleed at the thought of earthly severance, there 



Golden Grain 57 

are also those of us who knew the departed in 
friendship true, who share in the grief, and 
who in the place of business, or wherever we 
met, will and must remember that part of the 
text which says, " Neither shall his place know 
him any more." For no more with smile will 
associate and comrade and companion greet us 
in this world of stain and lassitude, and part- 
ing- 

Again, our text reminds us of the thought 
of — 

Loneliness. " He shall return no more," 
etc. One vacant chair. One place less at the 
table. A place that never can be filled. Where 
is the home that does not feel this sense of lone- 
liness ? We are wont to say in the lonely hours, 
" Oh for the touch of the vanished hand, and 
the sound of the voice that is still." But no 
touch is felt, no sound is heard. By faith we 
wait and hope. There is only one vessel that 
sails the Jordan of death successfully, and that 
is faith. Only one star to guide the mariner 
safely into the harbor of eternal safety and rest 
— the " Star of Bethlehem," '' the bright and 
morning star." The last fond look and touch 
and talk, and then there lies before us only the 



58 Golden Grain 

case which enclosed the jewel. That case we 
carefully, amid flowers, lay away in the drawer 
of mother earth, and returning to the place once 
called home, there steals over us a lonesome 
feeling. At times it seems as if we were wak- 
ing from some dream. The loved one has 
gone on a journey, and we dream of his return; 
but we suddenly awake from our dreaming and 
fanciful condition to realize the truth of the 
text, '^ He shall return no more to his house ; " 
and once more there creeps over us the sad, 
forlorn, homeless, and lonely feeling which 
\^T.^aps the soul in a somber cloud, only dispersed 
by hope, the beacon-light of promise. It is the 
night of death. Dark and troubled clouds hang 
over the w;eary mourners as they look at the 
empty seat where once sat the joy and hope of 
the home. In the morning, bright, the birds 
warble their notes of praise, and sing sweet 
melodies of love and joy, as perched upon the 
neighboring trees they thus hymm their Cre- 
ator's praise. The flowers sc^nt the air as ever 
before with the fragrance of heaven's incense. 
The sun shines as brightly as ever, gladdening 
the face of nature with its beams so warm and 
welcome. The gentle shower falls; the rain- 



Golden Grain 59 

drops kissing the blades of grass, until once 
more the fields wear a mantle of green. In 
short, all nature seems to rejoice with universal 
joy ; but in your home, where death has claimed 
his own, sit disconsolate and lonesome the dear 
ones who have laid in the cold ground the 
temple which once contained the coveted prize. 
If this were all, well might w^e be lost to 
progress, and seek out some secret place where 
we might spend the lonely hours away from 
busy scenes of life, and pass away the grief 
when these hours had spent themselves in 
months or years. But hope sees a star in the 
distant sky, and faith, with attentive ear, hears 
the rustle of a wing. ^^ If a man dies shall he 
live again? "'is asked by anxious hearts, and 
from the highest authority comes the solution 
of this question. In the quiet hour of death the 
Saviour of sinners speaks. Hear that sweet 
voice, then, friends bereaved, and dry the fall- 
ing tears : '' I am the resurrection and the life ; 
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and believ- 
eth in me shall never die." Sweet words of 
promise so full of love, and grace, and truth, 
and hope. 



60 Golden Grain 

This leads me to the next thought suggested 
by the text^ that — 

Another clime contains the spirit of the 
loved who to their homes on earth return no 
more. 

Here we reach the citadel of the soul, 
Vv-here storms never come to plague the life; 
Avinds of adversity never blow, and clouds of 
disappointment, pain, or grief never darken 
that eternal sky. Here rests the weary pilgrim, 
who has made God his refuge, free from harm 
and danger, in the clime ^vrhere the sun never 
sets and night comes not, ^^ for the glory of God 
lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.'' 
In this world fierce are the conflicts, and who 
among us has not at times fallen upon the 
battlefields ? Foes are many, and we need 
not be astonished when thus surrounded we 
fall, stabbed and bleeding by the enemy. In 
the midst of the contest we may raise our eyes 
to behold the glory and beauty of that land 
where hostilities cease. The weary toiler re- 
turns to his home after the day has been swal- 
lowed up in night, and home to him is a place 
of rest. So the laborer in life's great harvest 
field begins to long for rest, which can only be 



Golden Grain 61 

realized in its fulness beyond the swelling tide 
in Leaven^ the home of the saved. 

"Beyond these chilling winds and gloomy skies, 
Beyond death's cloudy portal, 
There is a land where beauty never dies, 
Where love becomes immortal/' 

Oh, ye who are troubled and weary and sad, 
whose cheeks are stained with the tears of grief, 
lift up your heads and take down the harp 
from the willow. The night v/ill soon pass 
away. It is nov/ almost morning. The vesper 
bells may be heard chiming the welcome home. 
The morning is breaking, and over the waters 
comes the boatman pale. The treasure-house 
will soon be empty, but I point you to yonder 
place of rest. With repentance towards God, 
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
the pass of obedience in your hands, you have 
nothing to fear. True, the last enemy (death) 
must be faced; but see, the conquering hero 
comes. " O death, where is thy sting ? O 
grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to 
God who giveth us the victory, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." Death, after all, is but a 
cessation of the involuntary powers of the body. 



62 Golden Grain 

At night the voluntary powers, by which we 
reason and think, require sleep to refresh them. 
So after a while the involuntary powers grow 
w^eary and tired, and long for rest. They have 
continued their labors unceasingly night and 
day for years, but now( they sleep, and this is 
death. AVhy then fear when in the distance 
yonder is home ? There David sings sweetly, 
though once he mourned for his son. There 
sits Abraham the faithful, though once he wept 
for his wife. There stands the prince, Paul, 
though once in presecution he had his feet fast 
in the stocks. There are many others whose lives 
were clouded here, who shine as radiant stars 
in the land of the leal. Yonder is the crystal 
sea, whose waters are never ruffled by storm 
or tempest. My soul is enraptured with the 
sight. 

I see them now, those pearly gates, 
And yonder my sweet mother waits, 
And other friends are waiting there. 
My home is there! my home is there! 

Like a bird about to migrate to sunnier 
shores, the spirit spreads its vnngs ready to 
leave this cold, bleak climate and bask in the 



Golden Grain 63 

sunshine of that beautiful clime, returning no 
more to the barren peak, where joy is followed 
by sadness and sorrow. Bright with resurrec- 
tion hope, we stand at the tomb of those who 
die in faith, and know that we shall meet again. 
Christ, the resurrection and the life, is in that 
fair clime, preparing a mansion for each of his 
children. He has stre^vm the way to glory with 
flowers of promise. With unfading laurel he 
has wreathed the tomb of all who sleep in him, 
and when the long, long night is past, and the 
morning breaks at last, we shall meet where 
flowers bloom forever, and separation and lone- 
liness will become obsolete. Chanting the song 
of Moses and the Lamb, we will walk the golden 
streets in yon beautiful land. Then lift up 
your heads, ye mourners in Zion, and live for 
him who died as your ransom, and then when 
the summons comes, like a beautiful river, 
whose banks are shaded by trees ever green, you 
will flow out into a waveless sea, where life is 
rest, peace, joy, happiness, harmony, and love. 



A COURAGEOUS ACT 

^^ He went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy 
day/' 1 Chron. 11:22. 

Beistaiah^ the son of Jehoiada, here is pre- 
sented to us as a mighty man of valor. This 
is the same individual, who went with Zadok 
the priestj and Nathan the prophet, to Gihon, 
at the request of King David, to proclaim the 
joyful tidings that Solomon was anointed to be 
king in the room of his father David. He it 
was who slew two lion-like men of Moab, and 
who at the instigation of Solomon put out of the 
way Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei, who came 
into contact one day with an Egyptian, a man 
of remarkable stature, being five cubits high, 
he having only a staff in his hand, while the 
Egyptian carried a spear like a weaver's beam. 
Benaiah plucked the spear from the hand of 
the giant, and killed him on the spot. Now 
the time comes to test the prowess of this man, 
with the wild ferocious animal of the jungle, 
and going do^Ti into a pit, on a certain day, 
when the snowflakes fell, covering the earth 
with a mantle of white, he meets in deadly com- 

64 



Golden Grain 65 

bat a lion fierce and wild, and comes off a victor 
in tlie fight. 

Such is life in this world of trial and vex- 
ation and worry. Obstacle after obstacle pre- 
sents itself to those who are called upon to meet 
the stern realities of life, and especially to 
the one who is earnestly striving to attain the 
mountain heights of spiritual excellence, which 
is finally consummated in heaven, the home of 
the faithful. The cloudy and dark day often 
follows the one of sunshine and gladness, and 
we find ourselves at war with the forces of 
evil which are arrayed like a mighty host 
against the good and the pure, seeking to dis- 
comfit and harass us in the onward march to 
the heights of glory. There is no life, however 
insignificant it may seem, but what has its 
battles. Sometimes in the early part of life's 
brief day, almost in the morning hour, the 
struggle for supremacy begins, and fierce and 
awful is the contest, until weary and tired, the 
pilgrim on the highway or the soldier on the 
battlefield, longs for rest, but finds it not until 
he passes over the swelling tide, where Jordan's 
waters touch the shore evergreen, and life's 
battles are ended. Men of courage like Benaiah 



66 Golden Grain 

are needed in this war of right against wrong. 
No coward needs to present himself to enter 
this Manila Bay or capture this Port Arthur. 
The deep, stern truth of the Master comes be- 
fore us : '' In this world ye shall have tribula- 
tion ; " ^^ I came not to send peace, but a sword." 
Soldiers of Christ, then arise and put on the 
armor to be in readiness for the fray. Like this 
valiant man spoken off in the text, go down 
into the worst pit you can find, and fight the 
lion of sin, on the day of dreadful storm, in the 
bleak wintry blast^ as well as in the warm, beau- 
tiful summer weather. 

In the discussion of this topic, notice atten- 
tively the three things with which Benaiah had 
to contend: a snowy day, a pit, and a lion. 
Three difficulties surround every life. There 
may be more; but these are certain. Let us 
notice the first — 

A snowy day. Yonder at Valley Forge a 
snowy day nearly settled the question against 
American Independence. A snowy day almost 
defeated the army of Napoleon from reaching 
Moscow; and the chilly winter day in a spir- 
itual sense has at times almost blighted the 
highest aims and hopes in life. You remember 



Golden Grain 67 

the time when some cruel word was spoken by 
one you loved, and in whom you had placed 
absolute confidence. The word, chilly and cold, 
almost froze the heart, and life seemed a bleak, 
barren waste, where no blades of grass move to 
kiss the dewdrops on a spring morning. Every- 
thing for the time being was snowed under, and 
the heart was chilled by the biting blast. Where 
was the sunshine now, so invigorating and 
warm, the presence of the same in former days 
making the life one round of joy and happi- 
ness? Where was the beauty of the rose, and 
the aroma of the flowers in bloom ? Their 
beauty was hidden beneath the robe of white; 
their fragrance gone by the absence of the sun's 
beautiful rays. The world appears dark and 
dreary now, and you sit with a sense of extreme 
loneliness, weary and forlorn. Look up, child 
of faith; you may be in a Valley Forge, or 
climbing the snow-capped mountain, but this 
cold, bleak winter day may be charmed into 
one of brilliant victory for you. 

Benaiah heeds not the snow^; something of 
great importance has to be accomplished, and 
he must face the difiiculty singlehanded, and 
either be the vanquished or the victor; which 



68 Golden Grain 

shall it be ? There is little time to procras- 
tinate ; delay at this perilous moment may bring 
to the soul lasting defeat. On life's rough road 
in winter weather, " overcome evil with good." 
The word spoken may have caused grief and 
pain, but love will warm your heart once more, 
and cause within it the boundless '^ joy of the 
Lord " to be your strength. Cultivate the pure, 
the gentle, the good, and the true, and although 
the day is cold and dismal, you will be in a 
position to meet it with whatever burdens it 
may bring, and the warmth of your own heart 
will melt the snow^ until there will gradually 
appear the raindrops of promise to kiss into 
beauty again the vegetation of life. Be of good 
cheer, then, however cold the day may be in 
your experience; for be assured of this, that 
with undaunted faith and a resolute courage 
for the right, the snow will in no way hinder 
in the slaying of evil, and others with whom 
you come in touch shall also realize the sacred 
truth, that underneath the snow, protected by 
the covering, there are many flowers, which 
soon shall open into life and beauty at the ap- 
proach of spring. 

Again, it may have been some temptation, 



Golden Grain 69 

and you were overcome. Oh! how cold and 
dark that day seemed to be. Your very soul 
was withered by the blast, and you felt keenly 
the effect of the north wind. It was the coldest 
day in your experience, since the beautiful day 
when Christ came into your heart and life, 
bringing happiness, joy, and love. Now the 
tempter has asailed the citadel of truth, and 
disconsolate you sit in the winter of discontent. 
At last you have fallen ; it may have been some 
secret sin, and repining takes the place of com- 
fort and felicity. Why should such a snowy 
day come, covering the life of this once pros- 
perous child in chilly robes ? Why should such 
an experience come to one wiio has been re- 
deemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of 
God ? You are not the only person who has 
had to face the storm and snow. It was a cold 
day, with the spiritual temperature at the freez- 
ing point, when Peter fell, denying the Master 
with whom he had walked for over three years. 
That soul of his was frozen when Jesus looked 
upon him, and immediately on that bleak day 
he went forth in genuine repentance, weeping 
bitterly over his defeat, until once more the 
warm rays of the Sun of Righteousness melted 



70 Golden Grain 

the snow from the heart, and on that stormy 
day victory cro^^Tied him a hero of the cross. 
It was a snowy day when the two disciples were 
journeying to Emmaus, with their cloaks of 
doubt and despair wrapped around them, shiver- 
ing and trembling, when a stranger drew near. 
Their sad coimt^nances told at once a tale of 
mental woe. It was on that same snowy day 
that their hearts began to burn within them 
as they listened to the words of the traveler who 
had so suddenly made his appearance, instruct- 
ing them as the journey was continued to the 
place where they desired to go. True, it was 
toward evening before the snow) was entirely 
melted, but it began to disappear while Christ 
spoke from the prophets the things concerning 
himself. So while the day may seem dreary, a 
little talk with Him will so brighten the path- 
way that even in the snow will be seen the foot- 
prints of the feet once pierced with cruel nails ; 
for there the blood will make visible the steps 
of the Son of God. Look up, then, on the cold- 
est snowy day, for there is much land to be 
possessed, and some life may be in the slough 
of despond, just about to give up all hope, when 
by your counsel and good-fellowship you may 



Golden Grain 71 

lead the erring and doubting one into the path 
of rectitude and peace, where the harp will be 
taken from the willow, and the sweet strains of 
heavenly music will then be heard as the in- 
visible choir chants the joy-song in realms of 
light and day. This may be accomplished on a 
snowy day. 

Another difficulty in the way of this man 
Benaiah was a pit. Some may say, '^ If I had 
a cushioned pew or a beautiful and Gothic 
church edifice, I would enjoy work for the Mas- 
ter; but to enter those tenement buildings in 
large cities, or go into the pits of vice in search 
of stricken souls, is another question. But that 
may be the place where the Master wishes your 
services. Benaiah might have been satisfied 
to remain indoors on that particular day, and 
enjoy the comforts of his own fireside. Shut in 
with himself, he might have wrapped himself 
in a cloak of selfishness, enjoying physical ease, 
while another might have gone into the pit, and 
have been in deadly combat with the " king of 
beasts." But with heart and soul we find him 
in his place, doing the thing that forever has 
made his name famous in the scroll of fame. 
Go into that pit, on the snowy day, and begin 
the work. There sits that troubled one whose 



72 Golden Grain 

merry laugh often brought sunshine to her 
earthly home; now sad and weary and tired, 
she seems to be fretting away her life in a pit 
of shame and vice. Having fallen into the pit, 
oh that some one might go there and tell of 
the Rock on which the feet may firmly stand, 
on which character may be built for time and 
eternity! Courageous man or woman, you are 
wanted for just such a place as this. Your 
talent, time, and means should be devoted 
thus to reach the heart and tell of the love 
of God to lost, perishing souls. Encircle 
thine arms of counsel around their blighted, 
blasted life, until new hope shall rise within 
the heart, new desires may bum within the 
soul, and truth shall conquer this wasted life, 
and make it bright with the radiance of fu- 
tui'e bliss. Heaven buys this soul at such a 
price that I see the Son of God stoop down to 
write upon the groimd, and say, '' Let him that 
is without sin first cast a stone ; " and then on 
Calvary's cross he bows the head, saying, '' It is 
finished.'^ What! Redemption for a life lived 
in shame ? — Yes, such is the Father's bound- 
less love, that into the pit of death he goes to 
rescue guilty sinners. Shall we not then, on 



Golden Grain 73 

this bleak day, when wintry winds blow up a 
gale, go down into the deepest pit of sin, and 
seek for sinners there? 

It may be some young man has lost his com- 
pass and his guide. The home in which once 
lived the brave and noble boy, w;as bright and 
cheerful; a Christian home, where life and 
light and peace were there in trinity. In some 
trying, testing hour, youth found itself unbal- 
anced for the fight, and down, still down, the 
soul went on its way, until at last in some pit 
of despair, a Benaiah found him, weary, worn, 
and sad. The battle now commenced in ear- 
nest, real. In this sad and cheerless condition, 
the mind was directed to that Christian home, 
where prayer as sweet incense would ascend to 
God both morning and evening, and tears were 
seen to steal their way down the cheeks of this 
one so sad and forlorn. With right good-will 
you pressed the suit, until at last, the battle 
ceased, the victory won, you saw him start on 
the royal road to spiritual prosperity; and a 
bright and shining light, he is to-day after 
other struggling, tempted, blighted lives, in 
real earnest grappling with pit difficulties, for 
well he remembers the pit from whence he has 



74 Golden Grain 

been taken, and the sadness and coldness of the 
life without the Christ. Did it pay to struggle 
thus until he was rescued from the deep and 
miry clay, his feet placed on the Eock, we trust 
to stay? Time, only time, will reveal what 
wonders have been wrought on bleak, cold days 
in pits of shame and vice. I fancy that the 
strains of music, changed from wails of woe to 
anthems of praise, will all the sweeter be as the 
rescued look over the pathway of folly, and see 
from what places they have been brought to 
peace and joy and happiness forevermore. Let 
no pit, however dark and dismal it may seem, 
deter the soldier of Calvary from continuing 
the good '^ fight of faith," that he may truly 
'^ lay hold upon eternal life." 

In the next place I am reminded of one 
more difficulty in the way of this man, Benaiah, 
brave and courageous soul — a lion. It was on 
a day when snow was falling fast, that in a pit 
he met the deadly foe. The slothful man would 
have said: '' There is a lion in the way," and 
he would doubtless through fear have turned 
aside from the path of duty and glory. No 
history would have been penned to have re- 
corded the deed of the slothful, but into for- 



Golden Grain 75 

getf ulness would he have gone. What a differ- 
ent type of the human have we before us in this 
noble, aspiring, dauntless soul, Benaiah! On 
this snowy day, in the pit, a lion fierce and wild 
was seen, and like a hero whose memory never 
shall fade from human hearts, he looked the 
difficulty square in the face, and slew the ad- 
versary. 

Life at best is but a battlefield, with pitfalls 
here and there, and it is either conquer or be 
conquered by the wild oppositions w^e must 
daily meet. When Samson went in quest of a 
wife, even then a lion roared against him. The 
Spirit of the Lord, however, rested mightily 
upon him, and without anything of defense in 
his hand, he rent this ferocious animal. This 
enemy afterwiard was turned to a receptacle of 
meat, to supply Samson with honey. Who can 
tell, then, my Christian brother on life's field 
of conflict, but what God will turn these op- 
posing enemies into friends most true to supply 
us with the bounties of life. A lodging place 
for busy bees to deposit their honey store, 
whereby all may be fed by the sweets there 
found. The promise of God to His chosen ones 
is, " The young lion shalt thou trample under 



76 Golden Grmn 

feet.'' Why then fear its jaws, when the power 
of conquest is freely to us given. A close w^alk 
with the unseen presence will enable every 
brave and fearless defender of the truth to over- 
come every enemy. Disobedience, and forsa- 
king Him, will cause disaster and defeat. This 
is very clearly portrayed to us in the case of a 
certain prophet, who received special instruc- 
tions regarding a matter of food and drink. He 
heeded not the warning voice, the foolish man, 
and on his way, like the man of our text, he 
met a lion ready for its prey. No strength 
from heaven was in that life. Out from the 
cheering, invigorating, life-giving, and soul- 
beautifying rays of the Sun of Righteousness 
no power to overcome, and down he wient before 
the onslaught of the untamed king of beasts. 
A lion bold that has ruined many a human 
life is unbelief. This rapacious, devouring 
beast wanders forth in search of spoil in the 
darkness of the midnight hour, and in the glare 
of the noonday sun. Then if the day is cold 
by some misfortune, and the pit is deep by 
temptation's strong and relentless hand, how 
eagerly this foe advances to crush the soul of 
weak and erring man ! In the pit of literature 



Golden Grain 77 

he is often founds with teeth so sharp that many 
have been bitten, and hardly have recovered 
from the bite. Into that pit, you brave and 
gallant heroes of the cross, and face him in the 
den of this vile stuff ! Benaiah, slay him there ; 
you are the royal citizen who can. Fear not that 
you may be contaminated by its daring efforts 
to succeed, for there is with you one who al- 
ways shields and protects his own. However 
sharp the teeth may be, the sword of truth is 
sharper, keener still ; and with that safe weapon, 
go forth to conquer or to die. I doubt not but 
^|iat the contest will be severe, for who has 
on such a snowy day gone into such a den, 
grappled with such an enemy, without having a 
serious, trying time ? Look to the blue above, 
where help and succor is, so that being girded 
with the spiritual force of a Paul, the tender- 
ness of a John, and the dauntless courage of a 
Benaiah, you may go forth in faith and charity 
to conquer every foe ; and when at last you are 
lifted above the cold and gloominess of a win- 
ter's day, you shall rest in yon fair land of 
perennial springs with no lion to disturb in all 
" God's holy mountain.'' 



DECORATIOX DAY 

Ix the history of nationSj there are some 
things which have a certain fascination to the 
student in his researches into the chief events, 
which furnish a clue to the condition of affairs 
in the time in which we now live. The Civil 
war was the rending of the vail^ which at its 
close pronounced death to section lines, and 
proclaimed the glorious truth that this great 
nation was one and indivisible. This is now 
the greatest and grandest country in the world. 
A land of liberty, in which the bugle of freedom 
has wakened by its martial call the slimabering 
conscience of the civilized world. The other 
nations may well look to the stars, as pro- 
gressive lights in the canopy of blue ; to the 
stripes as indicative of the fire and enthusiasm 
of loyal hearts, and true. Where that flag 
waves, there is honor to the living and peace to 
the dead. Beneath this flag, three of the most 
sublime words in human speech have their ful- 
fillment — liberty, fraternity, equality. Lib- 
erty to do the right in spite of creed or opposi- 
tion, fonning the beauty of human standards 
78 



Golden Grain 79 

in the realization of an eternal hope, divine and 
real. Life has a new impulse given to it, when 
freedom sounds the note of truth ; thus standing 
under the stars and stripes, there is a spirit of 
contentment and safety visible at home and 
abroad in the thought of belonging to this land 
of the free. Fraternity: every man in and 
doing the right is my brother, and deserves rec- 
ognition. No class or caste with mingled de- 
light can rise above the common likeness * of 
brotherhood. N^o titles bar to future places of 
honor, or seek for national pre-eminence, and 
but one name encircles every head, and that is 
peerless man. Equality: the rights of all are 
uniform or equal. 'Eo previous condition can 
ever change the rights of peerless man. That 
immortal document, the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, has been carried into effect both as to 
its letter and its spirit, and the sun of bright- 
est splendor now radiates with beams life-giv- 
ing. The stone that had been put upon the sep- 
ulcher of progress has been rolled away, and 
the messengers of light in shining garments 
point the way of success. 

We ought to feel proud of a country where 
with every breath we draw there is taken in 



80 Golden Grain 

the balmy air of liberty. This was the first real 
republic ever established among men. Prior to 
the time when this became a reality, we had 
read of the republics of Greece, Egypt, and 
Venice ; also of the so-called free cities of 
Europe. Let me tell you there never was a 
republic in Rome, Venice, or Athens; there 
never were the free cities of Europe ; for where- 
ever there has been a government cursed with 
caste, slavery has been there in some form ; and 
never until there sat in the White House of this 
beloved land that man of sterling worth, that 
dauntless hero of renown, the immortal Lin- 
coln, was this nation a republic in the best and 
truest sense. To the honor of the soldiers 
living and dead, it may be said you have been 
the forgers and framers of the first great re- 
public that has ever graced this world of beauty 
since it came from the hands of the mighty 
Maker. 

This country of ours is gi^eat because of its 
wonderful resources. Stored in the bowels of 
the earth, we 'have riches untold, and they but 
await the hand of toil to invite them to the 
surface, where they serve mankind. The iron, 
the brass, the silver, and the gold are found in 



Golden Grain 81 

rich abundance; and what shall I more say of 
the fertile soil; which with the heavenly light 
and rain is productive of the swelling harvest. 
With all this, however, no country could be 
cherished as great, in the highest sense, unless 
it brought into prominence great men. Where 
is the country to-day that might not envy us in 
great minds ? We have only to look at the on- 
wjard march of science to be convinced that this 
great country is in the lead, as we harness the 
forces in nature to do our bidding. We have 
taken the shackles from human beings, and 
have enslaved the forces in nature to labor for 
us. This is as it should be. The former felt 
the sting and pain of the lash; the latter have 
no feeling, and obediently carry on their work 
v/ithout fear of punishment, and the revolving 
wheels of progress are never still. The brain of 
man evolves, the magic wand of science touches 
the clouds, and electricity lights the world. 
Our own wonder-working Edison thinks, and 
voices long silenced by death speak to us again 
in the phonograph. 

Truly it is a grand country. This country 
of ours is great, because we are permitted free 
speech. Here no one is afraid to think, and 



82 Golden Grain 

give expression to an honest thought. This 
leads to a fearlessness in investigation. Hence, 
wherever there is no cowardice in delving into 
all problems, there is bound to be a progressive 
spirit. Here we can criticise our politicians 
without fear or favor, and the newspapers may 
deter many from failure in office by the watch- 
fulness inculcated, the expressive language 
used, if there is a disregard of duty. We are 
God's free people in this respect, and Avith the 
blue canopy above and the fair earth beneath, 
and the flag of the free waving in the breeze, 
we can stand and express our honest opinion 
to our fellowmen. This is therefore a land of 
thinkers, whose brains are kept in continuous 
activity by incessant sparks from the anvil of 
reason, on the current questions of the day. 
This is indeed a great country in its production 
of true, honest, fearless, heroic, intellectual 
men. Among the statesmen we have had Jef- 
ferson, Lincoln, Garfield, Blaine, McKinley; 
among the poets, Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, 
Holmes, Emerson, and Bryant; among the 
scientists, Grimes, Babbit, Walker, and others; 
among the painters, such names as West, AU- 
ston, Church, Leslie, Beirstedt, Cole, Eother- 



Golden Grain 83 

mel, Hamilton, and Moran; among the 
sculptors, Greenough, Powers, and Plasmer; 
among the generals, the names of Washington, 
Meade, Thomas, Eosecrans, Sherman, Sher- 
idan, and unconditional-surrender Grant. 

It is a great country because of the noble 
heroes who have bled and died under its imper- 
ishable flag. It takes the worst and most seri- 
ous consequences at times, to bring out the 
noblest and the best to be found in humanity. 
The most momentous event that ever came to 
our nation was the civil strife, which for a time 
seemed to threaten this great republic. For 
some years prior to the outbreak of hostilities 
there was an intense feeling in regard to the 
doctrine of State rights. Thank God, that ques- 
tion is settled forever. I am speaking to you to- 
day not because I am protected by the flag of 
this beautiful State of Michigan, but because 
I am under the fold of the flag of the United 
States. I love this State of which I am a cit- 
izen, but I love the republic the best. I believe 
in human rights, in the rights of States ; but I 
also endorse the sovereignty of the nation, and 
we, the people, the sovereigns. The people 
govern this nation, and that is the chief reason 



84 Golden Grain 

why it is great and glorious, for human rights 
are paramount to all other rights in national 
life. jSTo knees are bent to imperial monarchs 
who ascend thrones by wrong of heritage. 
Whenever a nation disregards the rights of its 
citizens, revolution may be expected. Well, 
when I read the doctrine of the so-called State 
sovereignty, I said, I object to it for various 
reasons : First, because it was appealed to in 
order to keep the slave-trade open until 1808. 
What was its object, then? — To make the sea 
a highway of piracy. It allowed American cit- 
izens to go into the business of trafficking in hu- 
man rights, in the selling of human beings, and 
I said money is less valuable than human 
beings, and I despise and abhor the doctrine. 

Again, this sovereignty was appealed to in 
order to keep alive the interstate slave trade, so 
that a master in the State of Virginia could 
sell his slave to the cotton plantation of the 
South ; and again I despised it. The next time, 
it ^vjas appealed to in favor of the Fugitive 
Slave Law. This law was the devil's search- 
warrant, making a bloodhoimd of every North- 
em man. Think of this a moment. A law 
which, if a woman had escaped from slavery. 



Golden Grain 85 

had traveled through tangled swamps^ her flesh 
torn and lacerated by thorns and briers, with 
her helpless babe in her arms, her feet bleeding 
and wounded with only one step from free soil, 
the law declared it a duty for a Northern man 
to grasp that helpless, wounded woman, and 
hand her back to the slavery and the lash. I 
have no respect for men who voted for such a 
law, be they living or dead. I have less respect 
for any man who would live up to its infernal 
teachings. I would have despised, abhorred, 
and defied it and its framers until death. 

The next time an appeal ^vtas made to State 
sovereignty was when the thought came to in- 
crease the area of slavery, so that the blood- 
hound, with blood dropping from his mouth, 
might traverse the windy plains of Kansas; 
and the next time that infamous doctrine was 
appealed to was in defense of treason and se- 
cession. This doctrine cost our nation six bil- 
lion dollars, four hundred thousand lives, and 
filled this great country with weeping mothers, 
widows, and helpless orphans. I tell you such a 
doctrine was a viper in the bosom of this noble 
country, which, thank God, received its just 
deserts at the hands of the honored boys in blue. 



86 Golden Grain 

Well, careful observers saw war was in- 
evitable, with such a doctrine being promul- 
gated. An election, which proved the doctrine 
of national sovereignty, was at hand. The im- 
mortal Lincoln was inaugurated March 4, 1861, 
and one month and eight days afterward Major 
Anderson was asked to surrender, but refused, 
at Fort Sumter. That glorious emblem of 
freedom was fired upon, and war commenced. 
For thirty-six hours Major Anderson held the 
fort, but the situation being hopeless, he was 
compelled to relinquish the task, and marched 
out with the honors of war. Lincoln called for 
seventy-five thousand volunteers, and within 
three days one hundred thousand responded. 
Our own State. Michigan, flashed these words 
to Washington : '' Michigan will send you fiity 
thousand men, if you desire.'' Then began the 
struggle, which culminated in the Union, one 
and indivisible. VvTiat made this possible ? 
Tou brave soldiers, with all your comrades 
who now sleep beneath the sod. Loyalty was 
your marching orders, and leaving your fire- 
sides and home-life, you went forth to the mar- 
tial strains of loyalty to the Union, over which 
the flag, "oiLSullied in your ranks, now waves 



Golden Grain 87 

over a prosperous nation. In time of danger 
there is made visible what is true and noble in 
human hearts. You loved your homes, your 
wives, and happy children. Their comforts you 
had looked to whether you labored in the field 
or workshop. You were loyal to the home in- 
terests, and devotion was frequently manifested 
in home-life, and many were the sad partings 
experienced in the departure for the front. 
Husbands, true and tried, bade farewell to 
wives and children; lovers, bowed with grief, 
said good-by to sweethearts, and marched to the 
gory fields of battle. In the midst of shot and 
shell they were loyal, and thousands fell fight- 
ing under '' Old Glory ; " many others suffered 
the untold agonies of prison life in Libby or 
Andersonville, but ever loyal to the cause of 
the right; some sleep beneath the sad hemlocks 
and the weeping willows, while others sit before 
me to-day, in the decline of manhood, as loyal 
as when they marched to the strains of martial 
music and braved the storm of shot and shell 
on Southern battlefields. You rendered that 
flag of the free stainless by devotion to the 
cause of unity. We come upon the scene to 
enjoy the rich magnificence made possible by 



88 Golden Grain 

your integrity. Perish from the earth the man 
who in these times of the nation's prosperity 
would dare to say a word against the saviors 
of our nation, the boys in bhie ! You were loyal 
to that old banner carried by the fathers 
through tlie Revolution, and with equal pride 
borne aloft in 1812, and by our brothers carried 
over the plains of Mexico; and in the 60's it 
floated in the breeze with the same dignity as 
in days of yore, and while it was shattered by 
leaden bullets, you never allowed it to trail in 
the dust. 

The same spirit of devotion was shown by 
the wives, mothers, and daughters of loyal men. 
They made it possible in many ways to ease the 
troubled hearts of those at the front^ and they 
must never be forgotten in our zeal for the 
husbands, sons, and brothers. They were will- 
ing that you should go forth with loving hearts 
to do or die for the eternal right. This Union 
must be preserved; so with hearts filled with 
grief and pain at the parting, and knowing that 
some would stain the grass with their life's 
blood, they faltered not, but rather encouraged 
you to be true to the pennon waving in the 
breeze, and sent you forth to the conflict with a 



Golden Grain 89 

devotion to the right which only women can 
show. Tender and loving and gentle and true, 
yet there burned within them the desire to save 
this nation. So I say, God bless those noble, 
devoted souls ; let their loyalty be registered 
in the heart's book of everlasting remembrance, 
and their names find recognition at the altar of 
the great King. 

I wish now to speak of the endurance of the 
boys in blue. You endured the v/eary march ; 
and often, footsore and tired, you stormed the 
citadel of the enemy. You endured the rigor- 
ous weather, with the burning heat of the sunny 
South. At times the silent hours of the night 
were spent under the blue canopy of heaven, 
with scarcely a shelter. Weary and tired, and 
soaked with rain, you lay upon the ground, 
awaiting the coming day. Is it any wonder 
that many of you are now suffering as a result 
of exposure in such trying times ? In hospitals, 
or wounded on the field of battle, many endured 
the torturing agony of pain, or worse still, the 
terrible moans and groans of the wounded and 
the djdng. In the prisons of hatred and fam- 
ine, multitudes endured an agony worse than 
death. The last winged messenger would have 



90 Golden Grain 

left them in quiet repose, calmly sleeping where 
no bugle call would remind them of hatred and 
strife ; but in those miserable prison pens, half 
famished, and hated by their enemies, some 
were glad to cross the dead-line, if only that 
would end the awful suffering of body and 
mind. No human tongue can depict the suffer- 
ings you were called upon to endure to per- 
petuate this nation. The weary marches, the 
hunger and thirst, the cold, the heat, the toil 
and pain, the dark and starless nights, the damp 
and cloudy days, the wounds, the deaths, have 
made it possible for the health and life of the 
grandest sunlit nation on the face of the earth. 
Shall I speak of your heroic deeds of valor 
in many a battle won ? Your deeds of bravery 
have made us free, and rendered tyranny as 
insecure as ice upon volcanic lips. The maimed, 
the halt, the deaf, the blind, are demonstrations 
of the life of courage. The soldiers of this 
grand republic, with a heroism as taintless as 
the air we breathe, fought for their own and 
others' rights. Your heroism was displayed 
in the defense of Washington, at Bull Run, in 
the Peninsular campaign, in the Shenandoah, 
the seven days' battle, at Forts Henry and 



Golden Grain 91 

Donelson, Shiloh, ISTew Orleans, the capture of 
Vicksburg, the capture of Atlanta, in Sher- 
man's campaign, and in many places, until the 
fall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee at 
Appomattox Courthouse. 

As we gaze into the historic pages of this 
nation, we again hear the martial strains of 
music and the dull tramp of feet hurrying to 
the front. Yonder by the gate the husband is 
bidding farewell to wife and child, as with a 
voice of assurance he comforts the sorrowing 
companion, and kisses the dimpled cheek of his 
loved child. In the quiet of the evening the 
lover is w^alking for the last time beside the 
one he loves, asking that she may keep brave 
while he passes to the field of conflict to do or 
die for the eternal right. He presses the hand 
and kisses the grief-stricken one, and marches 
into line, while to the wild strains of the music 
of war he goes through tangled swamp and 
meadows green to the gory field. The lover 
parts with the one he adores ; the husband bids 
farewell to the loved at home; the brave sons 
say good-by to their aged parents; the brothers 
bid adieu to tender, loving sisters; they are 
gone, and many of them forever. We march 



92 Golden Grain 

with them in the weary journeys to battle- 
grounds; stand guard with them in the mid- 
night hour; go with them to the hospit-als of 
pain and suffering; hear the shouts of the con- 
querors, the groans of the dying, and look upon 
the maimed and the dead. Pierced by leaden 
bullets, or shattered and torn by shell, there 
they lie in the gory field, ready for the last 
sad rites of burial in a trench. We return to 
the homes they left and the loved ones who 
wait. Mothers comfort each other with the 
thought that their sons are fighting for the 
glory of a united people; wives meet and re- 
fresh each other with the thought of joy in 
reunion ; sweethearts meet while evening shades 
gather round, and gentle zephyrs kiss the care- 
worn cheeks, and comfort one another with the 
idea of the return of their brave lovers. Think 
of all those bleeding, agonizing, noble hearts 
listening for the footsteps of the dead. Think 
of all the helpless little ones, bathed in tears of 
grief, which fall from mothers' eyes, caused by 
wounded, broken hearts. 

We see four millions, under bondage cruel 
and severe, lacerated, wounded, bleeding by the 
lash. Emancipation, loud and clear, rings out 



Golden Grain 93 

over all the land; the auction-block^ the slave- 
pen, and the whipping-post are seen no more. 
The light of truth at last has dawned, the black 
man is free, the shackles from his limbs are 
torn, and now he bends the knee to but one 
Master and but one King in heaven, as you can 
see. The nation is saved ; the Union preserved ; 
but many of Xhe heroes who bled for liberty are 
dead. They sleep at last free from pain and 
sorrow, beneath the sod. The grass, enriched 
by their blood, grows green above their silent 
dust. They rest in the windowless palace of 
peace, free from the shouts of strife and the 
wild clamor of war. We cover their gi-aves 
with the flowers of fragrance sweet, in memory 
of their acts of glory in perpetuating this grand 
Union of States. In return for what we enjoy, 
I have one sentiment for the brave soldier, liv- 
ing or dead, — praise for the living and praise 
for the dead. 



DIVINE HEALING 

All healing is divine. Whether it is con- 
sidered as the immediate intervention of God, 
and thus is miraculous, or is brought about 
gradually, and is natural healing, behind every 
manifestation of force is resident a part of the 
divine mind, and hence all healing can be and 
is attributable to God. There is nothing taken 
inwardly or applied outwardly that can heal 
disease. That certain remedies can be taken 
internally, and others applied outwardly, to 
bring about certain conditions, we do not deny. 
Nay, we are quite positive in the stat€ment, 
that we can give certain remedies which will, 
without doubt, bring about conditions whereby 
nature will do her best work, and gradually the 
sick one will experience ease, and a normal con- 
dition will be the result. 

Having made the statement that all healing 
is divine, let me say that God works largely 
through natural law in the restoration of the 
sick and suffering; hence, natural law may be 
said to be the means, almost entirely, through 
which the Creator carries on the work of bring- 
04 



Golden Grain 55 

ing the diseased to a state of ease. This is as 
it should be. His laws are inflexible. The 
child that ignorantly, yet innocently, puts its 
hand in the fire, is burned, and suffers the pen- 
alty of broken law, as well as he who knowingly 
and wilfully attempts the same experiment. 
When a vital place or organ in the body is 
pierced by a bullet or other deadly instrument, 
the penalty is death. This is true to expe- 
rience, whatever other theories we may venture 
to promulgate. That God may have intervened 
miraculously in some such cases, I do not deny ; 
but I have had no knowledge of such interven- 
tion, and I am simply stating facts in accord- 
ance with universal law as I find it. Prayer 
went up from fervent hearts all over this nation 
in behalf of Garfield, and likewise for the res- 
toration of our late lamented President McKin- 
ley; but a few days passed, and we were com- 
pelled to bid farewell to earthly hopes, and 
console ourselves with the thought that they had 
" gone to be with Christ, which was far better." 
Shall we deny the eflBcacy of prayer because 
such men bid farewell to earthly scenes, while 
thousands bow their heads in prayer to Him, 
who rules earth and sky? Surely not He 



96 Golden Grain 

answered in His own way, in perfect accord 
with the universal laws in existence, which 
voice the voice of truth, and demand results for 
violation. 

Sowing and reaping are found in all God's 
realm, in natural and in spiritual spheres. Pain 
is but a sentinel of the mind, revealing some 
violation of law; and after its warning voice 
has been heard, by proper methods it will cease 
its cry, and calm repose will again be found. 
I do not say that morphine, or any other nar- 
cotic drug, shall be administered to still the 
voice of this faithful guide. That would be 
like putting a plaster over the mouth of this 
sentinel while the robber is carrying on his 
dread work in the human body. The patient 
must be brought into harmony with the gTeat 
remedial agents, nature's laws, and in a per- 
fectly natural way healing will take place. By 
this I do not rule God out of His universe, but 
rather bring Him in touch with all that's true, 
pure, and good; for He rules all things by 
His gi-eat system of laws. 

Pain, then, in a certain sense might be said 
to be a blessing, and not a curse, if rightly 
understood. Suppose we had no telegraphic 



Golden Grain 97 

system in these bodies of ours, one might stand 
with his back to a stove, have his hands behind 
his back, and lose both of these nseful members 
by having them burned to a crisp. But how is 
it now? At once the message of pain is tele- 
graphed to the brain, and instantly they are 
withdrawn before any serious injury has taken 
place. Viewed in this light, how useful this 
nervous system is, and pain is but the voice of 
good to the mind; for as soon as the disturber 
of peace is put out of the way, the so-called sen- 
tinel disturbs us not. 

Let me here give a brief outline of what dis- 
ease is, its cause and its cure. Speaking from 
a scientific standpoint, as a physician and phi- 
losopher, I say, disease is want of ease, or an 
abnormal condition of the human system. As 
to its cause, I claim it is due to a decretion of 
the vital force of the body, or, better still, to 
a disturbance of the great law of equilibrium 
which pervades the entire universe of God. 
What I mean by the law mentioned is this, and 
we will first search for results in the world 
around us. Look into the natural world. By 
way of illustration, let us look at the subject of 
electricity. It is all around us in the atmos- 



98 Golden Grain 

phere^ jet we see no visible evidence of its 
presence. So long as two clouds are equally 
charged, they may pass and repass, yes, even 
mingle with each other, and no signs of light- 
ning appears. Xow let these same two clouds 
become unequally charged, or what is termed 
in electrical science positively and negatively 
charged, and immediately the heavens will 
stream with forked lightning until both again 
become equally charged, or until the law of 
equilibrium has been established; and the rain 
will cease, and nature again be restored to har- 
mony and peace. Thunder is nothing less than 
nature giving vent to her pains, and when the 
law mentioned is restored, nature regains her 
normal condition. 

Man is a cosmos in himself ; he is not un- 
natural, but is a natural being. The same thing 
applies to man that we find in the larger cosmos. 
The natural world disturbed is due to a disturb- 
ance of law; man diseased, is due to a disturb- 
ance of the same great imiversal law. This law 
may be disturbed in either of two ways ; i. e., by 
mental impressions or by physical impressions. 
The brain is the great dynamo of the human 
system. The presentation of fear, or sudden 



Golden Grain 99 

joy, may so disturb the vital force of the body 
as to bring on disease, if not cause immediate 
death. Let me illustrate : suppose you run into 
a neighbor's house in great excitement, saying, 
" Mrs. Jones, your mother has just passed 
away." The law spoken off will at once become 
disturbed, and she may fall in a faint, and 
sickness result from your rash statement. It 
makes no difference as to whether your words 
are true or false, the same condition may be 
produced. Let us notice physical impressions. 
If you sit in a current of air, while in a state 
of perspiration, the same law may be so dis- 
turbed, and wherever a weak spot or organ is, 
there disease may settle, and cause serious 
trouble and difficulty. Are the lungs weak? 
Consumption may be the result. It may be the 
kidneys, and Bright's disease may terminate 
the life. Tou see how necessary it is to keep a 
calm and tranquil mind, and be observing to 
take proper care of the body. But, you ask, 
Now, what about the cure ? I repeat the sen- 
tence with which I started, "All healing is 
divine." Some say, remove the cause; but this 
you can not always do. I say, put yourself into 
proper relationship with God's great laws, and 



L of C.i 



100 Golden Grain 

He, through nature, using those laws as the 
remedial agents, will remove the cause, and a 
normal condition will be the blessed result 
Now a violation of law will first bring its pun- 
ishment, and suffering will be the result of 

folly. 

From a Bible viewpoint of the situation, dis- 
ease may be said to be the work of the devil, 
inasmuch as violation of law is service to sin. 
However, I am now dealing with the subject 
from a scientific standpoint, and call your at- 
tention to the law of cause and effect One 
who has been continually, wilfully, or even ig- 
norantly undermining his constitution until 
there is a general breakdown, will suffer from 
the serious effects of broken law. Nature, 
gentle as the cooing dove, is at the same time 
stern in her demands, and will not listen, nay, 
can not grant a reprieve or pardon to the guilty 
life. There is no pardon for sin in the absolute 
sense, either in the natural or the spiritual 
realms. Punishment will and must follow as 
the inevitable outcome of violation of the right. 
Hence you will see that no one, in a certain 
sense, is able to break one of God's laws; and 
what we call breakage is the life coming in op- 



Golden Grain 101 

position to the demands of law; and the life 
that does, justly receives the punishment due 
either to its ignorance or its foolhardiness. 
The laws themselves still continue in operation ; 
the one who has run against them is the sufferer. 
It is evident, then, to the close observer that 
while the criminal may be set free, after adjust- 
ment to the divine mind, the sin committed is 
never pardoned by divine law, but meets its 
doom at the hands of the withering, blighting 
curse of its own misdeeds. There is no transfer 
of the guilty conscience of the criminal whose 
hands are stained with the blood of his fellow- 
man, to the spotless Lamb of God. As man is 
now constituted, such would be impossible. 
Every one, in a sense, must bear his own bur- 
den, although the Christ of God has died to set 
men free by saving, not from punishment itself, 
but from sin, which brings the penalty. Con- 
tinue to defile the body with certain things, 
and the race will continue to have cancer, 
scrofula, amaurosis, paralysis, dyspepsia, and 
other diseases. It may be said truly that for 
all these things the Almighty will bring men 
into judgment. Days and weeks of suffering 
will finally be ended by the dropping of the 



102 Gotdeyi Grain 

curtain on this earthly stage, to be lifted in 
some other sphere where law still reigns su- 
preme. 

Now possibly some one may be saying, " If 
after knowingly, wilfully, or ignorantly run- 
ning up against the laws in operation which 
demand punishment for so doing, how shall I 
bring myself again into unity and harmony 
with God in nature ? '^ An abnormal condition 
has been purchased at the price of violation, 
and anxiety fills the heart to become normal. 
The question is well put, and demands an an- 
swer. I answer by saying, you must first re- 
pent. I do not use the word repent possibly 
in its strict theological sense, but in a sense that 
covers all transgression in moral and natural 
law. Hence you are not only sorry for the 
violation, but you cease to do the things which 
have caused the suffering. This may have been 
done by eating, drinking, or excess in some 
other way. Whatever the discovery may be 
which shows why the abnormal condition has 
been caused, get back into right relationship 
by ceasing to do that which throws the ma- 
chinery of the body out of harmony with quie- 
tude and rest. When you have discovered the 



Golden Grain 103 

enemy, rout him by repentance, and then pray. 
I use the word pray in a broader sense than 
commonly understood. The poet says, " Prayer 
is the souFs sincere desire.^' I use it in as large 
a sense as this. Then having laid aside every- 
thing that you know has brought about this ab- 
normal state prior to prayer, be calm, serene, 
joyful, and happy ; and unless the law demands 
decease for the crimes committed, silently, grad- 
ually, and surely will you regain a normal con- 
dition, and you can raise your voice in thanks- 
giving to God, who has so wonderfully healed 
you in accordance with the harmony and beauty 
of His universal laws. 

Now a word as to means used in assisting 
nature to carry on her noble work. Although a 
graduate of Osteopathy, I do not deny that some 
medicines have been useful in assisting to bring 
about certain conditions whereby nature has 
speedily effected a cure. I am bitterly op- 
posed, however, to the system of treating with 
deadly, poisonous drugs; hence, not with 
deadly morphias or opiates would I deal, for 
the administration of morphine only deadens 
sensibility to pain, or, in other words, puts a 
plaster over the mouth of the watchman while 



104 Golden Grain 

the robber is carrying on his deadly work in 
the body. Osteopathy may be said to be " that 
science which consists of such knowledge of the 
structure and functions of the human mech- 
anism, anatomical, physiological, and psycho- 
logical, as has made discoverable certain organic 
laws and remedial resources, within the body 
itself, by which nature, under the scientific 
treatment peculiar to Osteopathic practise, 
apart from all ordinary methods of extraneous, 
artificial, or medicinal stimulation, and in har- 
monious accord with its own mechanical prin- 
ciples, molecular activities, and metabolic proc- 
esses, may recover from displacements, disor- 
ganizations, derangements, and consequent 
disease, and regain its normal equilibrium of 
form and function in health and strength. 
Every bone, muscle, ligament, every nerve, 
every drop of blood, has a distinct and positive 
duty to perform. The Almighty has placed 
nothing in this wonderful machine that is use- 
less. Look at that wonderful network of tele- 
graph wires, the nervous system. When He 
made such, — created the various organs, laid 
out the miles of lymph channels, " opened the 
canals for the expulsion of useless matter. He 



Golden Grain 105 

did everything so there would be a condition of 
perfect health.'' It is man's business to see that 
this machine is kept in perfect running order, 
with its parts so beautifully and artistically 
adjusted. When there are no obstructions, 
perfect health will be the result. An obstructed 
artery may bring about heart disease; a vein 
blocked produce inflammatory rheumatism, 
erysipelas, dropsy, varicose veins, or cancer. 
Whatever means God has placed in nature, 
within reach of mortals, to bring about condi- 
tions whereby nature will be assisted, to me is 
legitimate. After which, ascribing all praise 
to the God of all grace, I acknowledge Him as 
the Divine Healer, and all healing as divine. 



MEASURE FOR MEASURE 

In all ages of the world, man has been stim- 
ulated to giving by the thought of receiving. 
If reaping was not an expected event, then 
there would have been no sowing. The cer- 
tainty of success has at times won the battle 
before it was fought. If rumor of war is along 
the borderland, the farmers fail to sow, for the 
reason of the uncertainty of things. It would 
be extreme foolishness to place in the soil the 
seed, which would ripen into the grain to be 
trodden down by the war-charger. The natural 
issue of the statement here made by our Sa- 
viour is evident to every thinking mind. The 
principle of sowing and reaping is foimd in all 
realms, in the natural and spiritual atmos- 
pheres of truth, and think as man will, there 
is nothing in all the wide universe to cut the 
connection between giving and receiving. Thus 
there is a stimulus of hope in the beautiful 
thought that what we give to nature in product, 
so a like product shall we receive in return; 
what we donate to the spiritual thought of the 
universe, so there shall come back to us the 
106 



Golden Grmn 107 

beauty and sublimity of the life thought current 
for what we have given. 

Christ and nature voice the sentiment of 
God. The sun gives off its heat to field and 
forest, and vegetation gives back its gases 
again; and the forest changed to burning coal 
gives back heat to the heavens. Icebergs and 
frozen streams are given by the Arctics to cool 
the burning tropics^ and the Gulf Stream, warm 
and refreshing, is donated by the tropics. In 
spring the soil gives its nourishment to the 
growing, expanding tree; and in autumn the 
tree gives to the soil its leaves, thus enriching 
it. Let the farmer give the seed to the culti- 
vated soil, and the furrows will give back to the 
farmer the armfuls of golden grain. Let the 
vintner give his work and skill to the vine, and 
in return he shall have the purple flood, the rich 
juice of the grape. Washington gave his time 
and talent to the thought of freedom from cruel 
tyranny and bondage to unjust taxation, and 
in return received immortal recognition from 
a liberty-loving people. The tender-hearted 
rail-splitter became the president of this liberty- 
loving race, and gave hours of anguish, and 
suffered death itself, for the emancipation of 



108 Golden Grain 

millions of human beings. In return for the 
gift of talent, time, means, and death, Lincoln 
the peerless man of worth has become enshrined 
in the hearts of the freedman, his name placed 
in the temple of fame, where throughout all 
ages he shall receive the honor due to his noble 
character. 

What man has given to society and the world, 
so has he received in return. The fathers en- 
tered the dense, dark forest, and cut their way 
through brush and briers ; drained the swamps ; 
put their hands to the plow ; built houses, until 
villages, towns, and cities rose in the distance, 
planted the church, until buildings dawned 
with spires pointing heavenward. Hence the 
good seeds of civilization brought forth a plen- 
tiful harvest of grain, and fruit, and morals in 
the Western Hemisphere. In the time of plant- 
ing and sowing, did they permit certain seeds 
to take root which should have been carefully 
sorted out and perished for lack of soil? Let 
the 60's answer this question. Plant an institu- 
tion at variance with heaven's laws, and death 
and disaster will inevitably follow in its wake. 
In 1861 the reaping time came, and the institu- 
tion of human slavery was bathed in human 



Golden Grain 109 

blood. The grass, so green and beautiful 
touched by nature's magic wand, was dyed 
crimson by slave-holder and slave-emancipator. 

Give your mind to books of wisdom, and 
these treasure-houses of knowledge will in re- 
turn give you wisdom and light. Give your 
attention to the lightning's vivid flash, and in 
return you will receive that silent messenger of 
light which flashes into beauty the darkness of 
the night. Electricity will lighten the world. 
Give to Christ's challenge in loving response a 
cup of cold water, and in return you shall have 
rivers of living water. Give, O child of God, to 
the hungry, drink to the thirsty, to the stranger 
hospitality, to the naked clothing, the sick vis- 
itation, and to the prisoner in his cold damp 
cell thy kindly greeting, and in return for all 
such deeds of Christian philanthropy, ye shall 
hear the gracious words of a humanity-serving 
Christ, " Come, ye blessed of my Father," and 
a kingdom of grace and glory you shall inherit 
in yon land of cloudless sky. 

Ministers of truth, give to the desert world 
the seeds of loving deeds, and soon it will blos- 
som as the rose ; Edenic bliss return, no more to 
be marred by disobedience, or pricked by cruel 



110 Golden Grain 

thorns. Far back in the past, there stands yet 
Calvary's cross ; there the Man of Sorrows gave 
His life to lift the world up to God. Prior to 
that agonizing scene He gave His life to the 
publican, the prodigal, the outcast, and the de- 
spairing: ^^ He went about doing good." At 
last, amid rending rock and earthquake's dread, 
He suffered execution. He gave His love and 
life for the world in sin ; the world in return is 
gradually giving homage and adoration to Him. 
This principle explains differences. The 
question of Peter met the exact equivalent of 
this law's adjustment: ^^ We have forsaken all, 
and followed thee; what shall we have there- 
for ? " In other words, we have given time, 
talent, occupation, and all to be thy disciples. 
We have given good measure; is there virtue 
in return? Well, with the same measure ye 
mete, it shall be measured to you again. Yes, 
wait ! Be not too impatient ! There shall come 
a time of fructification. '' When the Son of 
Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also 
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel." Just position; is that all? 
Listen! By the donation of time, and talent, 
and means, and all, it is the law of reception 



Golden Grain 111 

even now ; for you shall receive manifold more 
in the present; and in the future, eternal life. 
The unerring accuracy of this principle should 
arouse every soul to the greatest activity in the 
gift of means, time, talent, and life itself, in 
the beauty of Christian character. Give hard 
cash to the propagation of an enterprise which 
shall alleviate the sufferings of humanity, and 
the results will show how amply repaid is the 
donor. If it is but in the calm of the soul 
which sends a thrill of sweet peace through the 
entire nature, it is enough ; but the adoring mul- 
titudes continue their grateful appreciation, 
unmistakable signs of what is held in memory's 
page, because of what has been given by some 
worthy human happifier. 

Why was it that the citizens of Boston, 
through representatives of merit, assembled to 
celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of 
that prince among men, George Peabody ? Why 
was it that some of the noblest citizens in the 
great city of London, England, met for the 
same purpose ? How shall we account for two 
continents unanimously agreeing on giving this 
ovation to one who had gone a number of years 
before to the realm of the dead? Because he 



112 Golden Grain 

had given to others, others now remembered 
him. Wealth he accumulated; wealth he gave. 
He who gave the princely sum of $3,500,000 
for educational purposes in the South, so that 
black and white might have equal advantages 
in gaining knowledge, must, according to the 
inspired record, have good measure in return. 
Disturbed by the conditions of the tenement- 
house system in London, after an investigation 
he entered with a fellow feeling into the sor- 
rows and distresses of the poor, gave $2,500,- 
000, and thus 20,000 persons were lifted from 
dismal, death-dealing atmosphere into pure, 
clean buildings, into which God's sun sent its 
healthful, invigorating rays. When he died, 
America gave to him; and the English nation, 
which had profited in its citizenship, also 
showed devotion and gratitude, and for the first 
time in the history of the English people the 
gates of Westminster Abbey were thrown open 
to conduct the funeral services of a foreigner 
within this sacred place. The prime minister 
selected the fastest vessel in the navy to bear 
his remains to his country, where he sleeps 
beneath the stars and stripes, remembered by a 
grateful people. With devoted heart he gave 



Golden Grain 113 

bountifully to the people, and from the people, 
in sermon and oration, has he received ap- 
plaudits. 

Shakespeare, the immortal, gave thought and 
complexion to English literature in the Eliza- 
bethan age, and in turn he has become immor- 
talized. Stratford-on-Avon may not only build 
monuments to his memory, but the world has 
been made better by this man who gave but to 
receive. 

Wickliffe, who has been called the Morning 
Star of the Reformation in England, gave in- 
tellectually, socially, and spiritually to that na- 
tion, and his gifts in mind-culture are returned 
with interest. 

John Knox gave to Scotland courage and 
Protestant culture, and has received the recog- 
nition of a virile Christianity. He who never 
feared the face of man, and made the en- 
throned Mary tremble when he prayed, has 
been enthroned by a liberty-loving people. 

Socrates, the philosopher of Greece, was too 
wise and good for the profligate people of his 
day. He gave wisdom and goodness, and like 
the lowly Nazarene who came four hundred 
and twenty-nine years later, he was not per- 



114 Golden Grain 

mitted to live. Was death all he received in 
response to the wealth of wisdom and goodness ? 
— No ! He is also enshrined in the world's 
thought, and imaged in acts of goodness and 
wisdom. 

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, 
and Thalberg gave their talent in musical com- 
positions to the world, and in return the world 
has been singing their praises ever since. The 
Bedford tinker, Bunyan, donated the world his 
'^ Pilgrim's Progress," and pilgrims through 
life's mountain passes have given him their 
words of thankfulness, and tuned their lives 
to the joys and sorrows of Beulah land and 
Doubting Castle. 

One person, then, may receive sparingly, 
while another takes in bountifully. The reason 
is obvious, according to the statement of the 
Master-Teacher : '' With what measure ye mete, 
it shall be measured to you again." Cultivate 
the grace of giving much, whether in money, 
talent, time, or in life itself; for the glorious 
sunrise of the soul will best be made visible by 
a strict adherence to the instructions given by 
the Saviour of men, and the fundamental law 
as laid down by Him is so natural and beautiful 



Golden Grain 115 

that there can be no fear of losing our moorings 
on the ocean of life, if attention is paid to the 
chart; for if we give, '' it shall be given, good 
measure, pressed down, and running over." 

But we must not lose sight of the truth that 
this very important principle works both ways. 
He who gives faith, hears God's voice in every 
passing breeze, and sees His footsteps in na- 
ture's garden of beauty and fragrance. He who 
gives doubt, in return receives doubt in restless- 
ness of soul, and an unsettled conviction of 
life. Give thoughtlessness and a stony heart, 
and results detrimental to right will evidence 
this rule working out stony hearts and expres- 
sions of thanklessness in return. It is said that 
Louis, king of France, was one day riding in 
the hunt through the forest glade, when he 
espied a peasant bearing a coffin. " What did 
the man die of ? " the king asked. " Of 
hunger," said the peasant The king carelessly 
passed on in the himt, and paid no more atten- 
tion to the conditions of the poor. Forgetting 
the cry of want, he continued in his thoughtless 
way, until he stood before the guillotine in the 
presence of a mob thirsting to dip their pikes 
in royal blood. With touching appeals for 



116 Golden Grain 

mercy, he stood in the attitude of a receiver for 
what he had himself given. Unyielding as 
the rocks around, the people stood awaiting the 
work of the execution. Louis, king of France, 
had given thoughtless inattention to appeals of 
want ; he had given nothing but " cold looks, in 
return he received cold steel." 

When Foulon was asked what the hungry, 
famished people should eat, he said, '' Let them 
eat grass." Carlyle informs us that some time 
after that^, the mob in a rage at this cold-hearted 
denizen of darkness, " caught him in the streets 
of Paris; hanged him; stuck his head upon a 
pike; filled his mouth with grass, amid shouts 
as of Tophet from a grass-eating people." 

When riding on her bridal trip to Notre 
Dame, Marie Antoinette gave orders to her sol- 
diers to command ragged people, cripples, and 
beggars to leave the line of her procession, as 
she could not bear to look upon these miserable 
people even for the moment, who by circum- 
stances were placed in such conditions. Time 
passed, and Marie Antoinette, the queen, 
bound by fetters, in the executioner's cart, rode 
to the place where she was executed. With 
hearts of adamant, and icy cold, the crowds 



Golden Grain 117 

gazed upon tbe heartless woman. The voice of 
nature, through its God, and the voice of con- 
science, through its Holder, speaks with no un- 
certain penalty, " With what measure ye mete, 
it shall be measured to you again.'' 

The cold harsh judgment of individuals upon 
their fellow beings meets with its just reward 
according to this law of give and take. In 
Christ's beautiful sermon on the mount. He 
makes this telling statement : '' Judge not that 
ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye 
judge, ye shall be judged : and with what meas- 
ure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 
A little careful consideration along this line 
would prevent many a catastrophe to many a 
life. It is folly to waste valuable time in 
searching for small particles, when a large piece 
of timber is obstructing the advancement of 
the truth. Give out, then, evil thoughts and 
words about your neighbors, and the same bad 
seeds will be sown in your own hearty which 
will bring discord and unharmony to life itself. 
How this world has been jarred and marred in 
this way, and the peace disturbed of loving 
hearts. 

Yes, this unalterable, inevitable law works 



118 Golden Grain 

both ways, and is as natural as the return of day 
and night, summer and winter, seedtime and 
harvest IsTapoleon meted out wars which filled 
the earth with widows and fatherless children. 
As has been fittingly said of him, " Grand, 
gloomy, and peculiar, he sat upon the throne a 
sceptered hermit, wrapt in the solitude of his 
awful originality. A will despotic in its dic- 
tates, and a conscience pliable to every touch of 
interest, marked the outline of this extraordi- 
nary character. A royalist, a republican, and 
an emperor ; a Mohammedan, a Catholic, and a 
patron of the synagogue ; a subaltern, and a sov- 
ereign; a traitor and a tyrant; the man with- 
out a model and without a shadow." This man, 
so strange and seemingly ambitious, deluged 
the nations with blood, causing homes to feel a 
sense of loneliness, as footsteps wont to tread 
the threshold, never again would be heard. He 
who gave to others fears and tears and bitter- 
ness of heart, in exile, sad, wounded, and 
bleeding in mind, must pass in loneliness to the 
realms of the dead. Having caused tears to run 
like water from many an eye, he died sur- 
roimded by water. 



Golden Grain 119 

What is the important lesson before ns in this 
school of experience ? — To give of the fulness 
of our hearts to Him whom we denominate 
'^ our Father in heaven." If we give Him the 
heart, He will return the compliment in the 
sweetest benedictions of light and love; if a 
repentant life, there will be mercy extended 
like the sea in its wideness; and the practical 
way to get into touch and harmony with the 
divine mind is in the constant nearness to His 
created beings, whom He has made in His own 
glorious image, in alleviating their sufferings 
and bringing joy to human hearts. Then at 
last entering the banqueting hall, in the house 
of many mansions, this principle shall be fully 
consummated in the beauty and harmony of joy 
supernal. There it shall be: Measure for 
measure. 



Poems 



SOLDIERS OF THE REPUBLIC 

Soldiers of this great republic, 

You were noted volunteers; 
In the time when duty called you, 

Then you rose above all fears. 

Bravely fighting for the Union, 

You maintained the country^s cause. 

Cared for neither storm nor tempest; 
Honor knows no other laws. 

When the message of Fort Sumter 
Found its way to Lincoln's home. 

Then the call was made for soldiers; 
Volunteers began to come. 

On the dreaded field of battle, 
Under stars and stripes, you fought; 

Such a firm and dauntless courage 
To the glory field you brought. 

Side by side you stood, nor faltered. 
In the midst of shot and shell; 

On the Southern fields of conflict. 
Many fighting bravely, fell. 

See your many comrades sleeping 

Underneath the solemn pines. 
Or beneath the tearful willows. 
And the green embracing vines. 
120 



Golden Grain 121 

Careless now of storm or sunshine, 
While they lived they did their best. 

They have passed from strife and conflict — 
To the silent place of rest. 

While in the wild roar of battle^ 

Death serene it came at last; 
Sleeping underneath old glory, 

War and turmoil now are past. 

On their graves in sweet memorial 
Flowers of fragrance we will place, 

Emblems of^ life's sweetest perfume, 
Until we shall see each face. 

Of the heroes who are resting. 

Who have died for Union' sake, 
On the stormy fields of carnage. 

May they all in glory wake. 

To the living here now present. 
Praise is due for what youVe done; 

And together with dead comrades. 
You have truly victory won. 

Soon you also will be numbered 

With the brave ones now at rest; 
Soon the roll-call will be answered 

By each veteran, here, its best. 

You once heard the silver voices 
Of heroic bugles' blast. 



122 Golden Grain 

Soon you'll hear that other music, 
Angels chant, as you march past. 

Do-wTi the golden streets of glory. 
Led by One who conquers all; 

To the house of many mansions, 
Inside to the banquet hall. 



THE REALITY OF LIFE 

Life is real, but death is nothing, 
Why should friends on earth be sad? 

When the loved ones seem to leave them. 
Every heart should then feel glad. 

When the spirit leaves the body. 
And your hearts in anguish torn, 

Think not that the loved one's left you 
Here below, just all forlorn. 

Loved ones, while they must pass over 
From earth-life to spirit sphere. 

Are not gone far in the distance: 
They are with us— with us here. 

Can you never hear their voices 
In the silence of the night? 

Can you never see their beauty 
With the keen clairvoyant sight? 



Golden Grain 123 

If you will but make conditions, 

You will always find them near, 
And their happy spirit voices 

Surely then will greet your ear. 

For the homes that they have entered 

Are but hidden from the sight 
Of the eyes of erring mortals, 

Until they shall take their flight. 

But the dear ones, they are with us 

Seeing, hearing what we say; 
What a comfort, what rapture! 

As we walk this earthly way. 

Soon we'll go to greet immortals^ 
Yes, to join the heavenly band, 

Where no sadness ere can reach us^ 
In the happy spirit land. 



TO THE MEMORY OF MISS LULU 
EDMONDS 

Rest, tired one. thy voyage en earth is over. 
No more shall pain afflict thy body here : 

In some bright land, there angels 'round thee hover, 
Thou art at home, in yon bright heavenly sphere. 

Thy morning sun had scarce yet fully risen 
When thou didst hear the call from earth away ; 



124 Golden Grain 

Then from earth life thy spirit left its prison, 
For yon bright realm of light and endless day. 

How sad to part with thee, so young and tender, 
The home without thee seems so dark and drear; 

But thou hast gone to Christ, thy dear defender, 
So we will wipe away the falling tear. 

There is no home on earth but has some sadness, 
No one who lives but what has some heartache. 

In heaven above there is continual gladness. 
To those who sleep in Christ, in glory wake. 

We would not wish thee back from heaven's glory, 
Where thou dost always see thy Saviour's face; 

Our hopes revive as we read of that story 

Of Him who died and saved thee by His grace. 

So farewell, Lulu, till some brighter morning, 
When we shall meet above to part no more; 

With Jesus then our hearts will not be mourning, 
As we shall dwell in love, on Canaan's shore. 



TO THE MEMORY OF MISS BERTHA 
M. KINNEY 

With sad hearts we look in the future, 
Remembering the days of the past, 

When clouds, though they seem to be moving, 
Bring tears just like raindrops at last. 



Golden Grain 125 

But sorrow at length is retreating, 
Some brightness it lightens our way, 

As the heart seems to say by its beating, 
Press on, there's a still brighter day. 

A loved one has sailed the dark river 

That leads to the land where there's rest; 
Then why shall we grieve sadly for her, 

Whose sun has now sunk in the westf 
Perhaps it is best in the morning 

Of youth to just enter the vail, 
Where life will receive its adorning 

As vessels the crystal sea sail. 

So farewell, dear Bertha! we leave thee 

With Him who is mercy and love, 
While we in this world of sorrow 

Walk, thinking of that home above. 
We trust prayer opened the fountain. 

Put up with thy heart's latest breath, 
And now, like the roe on the mountain. 

Thou art free from that we call death. 



TO THE MEMORY OF MRS. KATIE 
PIFER 

As you gaze upon her sleeping 
In the narrow couch of clay, 

How your heart is melted, weeping. 
For the loved one passed away 



126 Golden Grain 

Yet there is a Christ that healeth 
Every sad and wounded heart; 

Words of comfort always stealeth 
Into lives that feel this dart. 

On this earth, land of the dying, 

Broken hearts will always be, 
We shall often look for sighing, 

While we sail this troubled sea. 
Listen to the Bible, giving 

Words that every heart will cheer. 
In yon blest land of the living, 

Pain and death we need not fear. 

While the home has now been broken 

By death's cruel, piercing dart. 
You may treasure a sweet token 

In thy sad and bleeding heart; 
For the loved one passed from sorrow, 

From all pain and suffering free, 
You will meet upon the morrow, 

With her, sail the crystal sea. 

When in autumn, leaves were falling, 

Katie faded from our view— 
Heard the voice of Jesus calling 

To the land where all is new. 
Farewell ! now the voyage is over, 

We will dry the falling tear. 
Let thy spirit near us hover, 

Mother, wife, to us so dear. 



Golden Grain 127 



ENIGMAS TO BE SOLVED 

As on your journey homeward on life's way, 

Unto a land of light and endless day, 

There are dark places, where we can not see: 

Oh! then, my soul, to heaven bow the knee. 

The way that leads to heaven's pure delight 

Sometimes may take us through the darkest night. 

This life of ours is clothed in mystery; 

So is the life that's seen in yonder tree. 

Pray tell how leaves in Spring-time do appear. 

Not two the same in shape, when you draw neai" 

Are seen, but each is different from the rest; 

Among those leaves the warbler builds its nest. 

And in that nest at length, life may be seen. 

Inclosed in shell of ,egg this life had been. 

Explain the mystery if you can to-day; 

If you are able now, well, then, you may. 

For it is just as dark to human mind 

As other mysteries here, which we do find. 

We look through glass, but darkly do we see; 

The problem of this life is mystery, 

Go to that home where seven children are; 

That home from you^ may not be very far. 

The raven death flies swiftly over it. 

And leaves the inmates there a while complete, 

Within your home one angel child is there 

So sweet, so beautiful, so kind and fair. 

The raven touches that one meek and mild, 

And leaves your home on earth without a child. 

Explain the meaning of this problem here, 



128 Golden Grain 

As nights of darkness cause you thus to peer 
Through gloom, and sadness, pain and sorrow too; 
This change is now, but mystery to you. 
Yet there's no night but has its twinkling star, 
The hope of beauty in some world afar. 
Where all the mysteries, there shall be explained. 
When we the truth itself, shall have attained. 
Then face to face, new tokens of pure love 
Shall greet us in the blessed land above, 
When we shall see the Saviour's kindly face ; 
Redeemed by Him, we then shall take our place 
Beside the throng, and will our voices raise 
In one grand anthem of eternal praise. 
Till then we are content whate're betide. 
Come pain, or woe, if loved ones from our side 
Are taken, they are planted by that hand, 
Who has the right to life; and in that land 
Of sunshine and eternal day, they grow 
In beauty fair; that summer land we know. 
Shall then reveal God's wonderous plans below; 
Why tears and shadows, pain and death, and woe; 
Permitted all for some wise purpose here. 
Will one day be made plain, in yonder sphere. 
Where nothing then but joy and light and love 
Shall dwell together in God's house above. 



LIFE HAS ]S^0 CESSATION 

When the spirit of the loved one 
Left for somewhere else to dwell^ 



Golden Grain 129 

How your heart was rent with anguish, 
All the grief you could not tell. 

Would your dear one live forever? 
Was the thought that filled your heart; 

Would you meet in some fair haven, 
Where you never more should part*? 

As you sat beside the body, 

Nothing now but lifeless clay. 
How your heart was melted, weeping 

For the loved one passed away. 
Friends they tried to soothe and comfort. 

In that sad and trying hour, 
Telling you of sunshine ever 

In that land without a shower. 

Was the loved one gone forever 

To the realms of the dead? 
Where the voice was always silent. 

After earthly life was fled? 
How you longed to know for certain. 

Life was endless up above, 
In the Father^s many mansions. 

In the land of light and love. 

As you sat so calmy brooding. 

Praying, asking for the light. 
In the silent, solemn moments. 

In the stillness of the night, 
Lo, a voice began to whisper, 

"Weep no more, for I am here." 
Hear the voice; 'tis Jesus calling. 

Come to comfort and to cheer. 



130 Golden Grain 

Now you know, the vail is lifted; 

All are living, none are dead; 
For they only have passed over. 

As the Bible truly said. 
Now you are no longer asking, 

Is life endless up above? 
For you have received the message. 

From the land of lio-ht and love. 



BOTTLED TEAES 

Have you seen the dewdrops shining 
On the bright and early mom? 

To the soul they are refining, 
Vegetation they adorn. 

They are tears by Nature given. 
In this world of constant change; 

Calmly by the zephyrs driven. 

Hence you must not think them strange. 

So with tears from heart that's riven 

By repentance, deep and sure, 
They are useful when then given. 

For they make the soul more pure. 

Tears in God's own bottle placing. 
There like dewdrops on that shore. 

Some day will be found so bracing 
When we rest forevermore. 



Golden Grain 131 

Tears of sorrow how their falling 
Now from many a troubled heart, 

Seem like voices that are calling, 
Saying, Friends will never part. 

For in yon fair region, dwelling 

In the light of endless day. 
They are now forever telling, 

God will wipe all tears away. 

Welcome, then, in earthlife weeping; 

In God^s bottle place your tears, 
There will come a time of reaping; 

They^ll be changed to crystal spheres. 



ONLY THE GOOD 

Take thou the place by Providence designed. 
And be not to the interests of the right so blind; 
But what in every human life you see, 
Some spark of good, of real divinity. 
For God who has created all is Avise, 
He is the one, who rules both earth and skies. 
All life it emanates from Him above. 
Who rules His creatures everywhere in love; 
And all things work together for the good 
Of those who love Him, and the best of food- 
Rich, life-sustaining, given for nourishment— 
From Father's hand on high, is to us sent. 



132 Goldeyi Grain 

His peace so calm and so abiding, too, 

Is given to those who to His will are true. 

Stay thou my soul, then, near this heavenly guide. 

So that rich bounties may with thee abide. 

And when at last from earthly care set free. 

The house of many mansions you will see. 

And dwell forever in that place of love. 

Thy Father's house of light and peace above. 



THE HEAVEXLT HOME 

Lo, yonder city to our eye 

The place where saints shall dwell on high; 

'Tis called the city of our God, 

Where love is in that blest abode. 

No sun with its effulgent rays 

Is needed to create a blaze 

Of warmth, for on the hallowed mom 

Our Saviour will itself adorn. 

With light and heat and glory, too; 
His presence there is heaven to you 
Who have to Him entrusted all, 
And thus obeyed His gracious call. 

And as we walk the golden street, 
And we our loved ones there shall meet, 
The best of all, we'll get the sight 
Of Him, who is the city's light. 



Golden Grain 133 

The gift of gifts, all by God's grace 
What glory when we see the face 
Of Him who has such love now shown 
As to conduct us to His throne. 

At His own feet we then shall pour 
The richest of our treasure store^ 
And sing throughout an endless day, 
To Him who is the truth, the way. 

The crystal stream our barks shall sail, 
Nor shall be tossed by any gale 
Tempestuous winds are never known 
In that fair land where is God's throne. 

The beauty of the pearly gates. 
The loved ones who stand there and wait. 
Oh! then what rapture and what glee, 
As each to Him, shall bow the knee. 



THE BIBLE 

Holy Word, hook divine! 
I am glad that thou art mine. 
Thou doest tell me whence I came ; 
Thou dost teach me what I am. 
Thou dost chasten when I rove. 
Tell me of a Saviour's love. 
Thou wilt always guide and guard, 
Until I shall gain reward. 



134 Golden Grain 

Thou dost comfort in distress^ 
Traveling through a wilderness; 
Showing beauty in the path, 
That will triumph over death. 
Thou dost speak of joys to come, 
Of a life of peace at home^ 
thou blessed book divine! 
Precious treasure, thou art mine. 



LAUNCHED, BUT WHITHER BOUND 

Launched, but whither bound on the great sea of life 
Is hope, the anchor, sure, then let the winds blow 

strife. 
Let Christ the captain be, thy vessel He will guide 
Safe o'er the raging main, and land you with the tide. 
Into a harbor safe, on Canaan's happy shore, 
Where calm will be at last, for storms will be no 

more. 
Expect while on the sea, dangers will not be few. 
For storm and wind and rain, sometimes the gentle 

dew. 
Will all come in their turn, and each you must pass 

through ; 
But do not be dismayed, if this you're called to do. 
Some vessels when they're launched, have no definite 

end in view; 
Now tossed on angry sea (I trust their number's 

few); 
For surely it is sad to drift thus with the tide. 



Golden Grain 135 

When one can just as well upon the billows ride, 
And know that sometime, when the storms of life are 

o'er, 
There is a blessed land, a happy peaceful shore. 
Where, free from all the ills to which our flesh is heir. 
All may thus be set free, so none should now despair. 
Since Christ's our captain. He can safely guide His 

own. 
In peace and quietude, into the port at home, 
Where storms shall come no more, when on the crystal 

sea. 
We sail in love and peace, and glorious majesty. 
Put up the sails of faith; put on propeller love; 
Then will the voyage be safe, for that fair land above. 
Launch out into the deep, care not for tempest's wild ; 
Our Father's on the bridge, and He cares for His 

child. 
Soon will the storms be o'er, and safely anchored we, 
Shall rest in love and peace, with friends who now 

are free. 
Then shall a calm be ours, when sun sinks in the west. 
For we shall always know a sure and perfect rest. 



THE FEAILTY OF MAN 

Frail mortal, why shouldst thou be proud"? 
Thy life is like a passing cloud, 
Or like the rippling of a wave, 
So soon a patron of the grave. 



136 Golden Grain 

Dust unto dust the body goes, 
And thus is ended earthly woes; 
While friends on earth are left to weep, 
The body goes at last to sleep. 

There both the haughty and the gay 
Alike sleep in the cold, cold clay; 
Food for the worms that in the ground, 
Devour whatever can be found. 

Why lay up treasures here below? 
What comes to-morrow no one knows. 
All that is of the earth is vain, 
And leaves but sorrow in its train. 

Like snowflakes as they fall so bright. 
At first so beautiful and white, 
Soon trodden under hurrying feet, 
They mix with mud upon the street. 

Thus life is like the rainbow's form, 
So beautiful amid the storm; 
But soon it passes out of sight, 
And all is wrapped in darkest night. 

Then humble be, and seek for grace, 
Thus after death to see the face 
Of Him who did salvation bring,— 
Our heavenly Prophet, Priest, and King. 

Life should be like the fragrant rose 
In Eden's garden as it grows. 



Golden Grain 137 

While shedding forth its sweet perfume, 
In beauty fair, and gorgeous bloom. 

That life of beauty shall be mine, 
A life, dear Saviour, like to thine. 
By doing good, while here below, 
In other lives, truth seeds to sow. 



BE NOT DISCOUEAGED 

My soul, do not discouraged be to-day; 

There is no storm but what will pass away. 

The clouds may come, sometimes do hide the sun. 

But rain is needed that the streams may run 

Into the ocean, that the ships may bear 

Their precious cargo, laded with such care, 

Unto desired havens to provide 

For those who in some distant lands reside. 

So it is with this life that comes from God ; 
At times it seems so hard to bear the load: 
The drooping spirit almost seems to shrink, 
And underneath the load begins to sink. 
But why thus sad and so discouraged be? 
The clouds will pass away; the sun you'll see 
Shine forth again in all its glory here; 
So be not troubled, let your heart not fear. 

The grass is best refreshed by rain drops sure ; 
The life of man by teardrops made more pure, 



138 Golden Grain 

The valley is as needful as the hills; 
And so the valley of our human ills 
But leads us to regard all things below 
As evanescent as the crj'stal snow. 
The trees by winds more firmly rooted are; 
Peace reigns supremely after violent war. 

Seeds by the wind are scattered o'er the plain, 
To grow in beauty and give life again. 
Thus in this ever-changeful world below. 
By storm and tempest we are led to know 

That all permitted for a purpose wise 
Will one day be revealed beyond the skies. 
All is controlled by Father's constant care; 
His hand is guiding all with skill so rare. 

Then why should fret and worry come to you? 
Thy motto should be this^ to rise and do 
Just as the Master did; although reviled, 
He treated all with love; so gentle, mild, 
That from His life there came a fragrance sweet, 
That caused His many foes to beat retreat. 
At last He conquered all; in heaven above 
He reigns supremely now in perfect love. 

So some day soon, all earthly care will cease; 
One gladsome day of universal peace 
Shall crovv-n the labors of an earthly life 
With joy and gladness, where there is no strife: 
Where flowers of fragrance sweet shall always 

bloom. 
In that bright land of light beyond the tomb. 



Golden Grain 139 

There shall our Father's house of many mansions 

be 
In yon fair land, beside the crystal sea. 



A VISION OF LIFE 

One day as by the river brink, 
I meditated on the link 
That binds us to this earthly life, 
When sometimes there is grief and strife, 
Methought I heard a voice so sweet 
Say, "Come, and I will make you meet 
The One, who will this link explain. 
And make real life to you more plain/' 

I met Him, who is truly life, 
And passed from discord and from strife. 
I entered into calm repose, 
For He had banished all my foes. 
And brought unto my wondrous view- 
Such flowers- of rich and radiant hue— 
That I was charmed and brought to know, 
That life is one continuous flow. 

For that which we call death, or sleep. 
And causes friends on earth to weep, 
Is but a tunnel in the hill, 
That leads the waters onward still. 
They flow with clearness on that side, 
Where beauty, fragrance, peace, abide. 



140 Golden Grain 

And he who spoke sweet words of love 
Was Jesus who came from above, 

And taught me thus to say to you 
In sweetness and in beauty too, 
Be calm in anguish or in woe; 
Sow seeds of loving deeds below. 
Grow like the flower of radiant hue, 
Attuned to beauty by the dew. 
Likewise the sun, with beauteous rays, 
Shines forth upon it all its days. 

Both giving healing, light, and heat 
To all we see beneath our feet, 
Grow like the babe in mother's arms, 
That beauteous rosebud with its charms, 
Whose plainteous cry is prayer for food. 
Which by the mother understood. 
Soon as its wants have been supplied. 
Its tears by mother's love are dried. 

It hastens into peaceful sleep. 
So calm, so quiet, and so deep. 
Thus he who is God's own dear child, 
So gentle, loving, and so mild. 
Is fed by words of living truth, 
That he may grow, and be, forsooth, 
Stalwart in love, in life, in grace; 
That some day he may see the face 

Of Him who did salvation bring,— 
That loving Christ, our glorious King,— 



Golden Grain 141 

And in that land of light and rest, 
May with all saints be truly blest, 
When life on earth shall cease to be. 
And we from care and sorrow free. 
How happy then, when free from pain,— 
Yes, free from sin there is no stain,— 
In yon bright place of light and love 
We call our Father's House above. 



AN EASTEE MESSAGE 

On" this glad Easter morning, I welcome you here, 

The tomb sealed is broken, now no one should fear. 

The Saviour has risen; we also shall rise. 

And meet him in glory, up there in the skies. 

The winter so gloomy has now passed away 

So cold we are glad that it stayed not alway; 

And spring with its beauty, has dawned once again. 

And garlanded Nature with its blest amen. 

The flowers, rich in beauty, shed perfume abroad; 

They cheer us poor mortals on life's weary road. 

And speak words of promise of that Easter-tide 

When dear ones passed over will with us abide. 

They tell us that death is a brief winter's day, 

To end clothed in glory and costly array. 

For the spring it has dawned; the flowers as they 

bloom. 
But speak of the life that's beyond the dark tomb. 
The birds, how they sing on the neighboring trees,— 
The branches, they move by the spring's gentle breeze 



142 Golden Grain 

They chant their sweet lays on this glad Easter mom, 

And tell of the day that is just newly born. 

Shall we then be silent^ created in love 

By Him whom we call our dear Father above; 

Refram from sweet anthems, of praise here and now, 

As to Him in homage we gladly do bow? 

No, we must adore Him, our Saviour and King; 

Our lives tuned to his life, we gladly will sing. 

On this Easter morning to Him we will pay 

All glory and honor, and worship to-day. 

The light of the future now dawns on us here; 

The promise of spring-time in yonder bright sphere. 

With no change of season to cover the flowers 

With a mantle of cold in heaven's bright bowers. 

The glad resurrection brings light, hope, and peace; 

Our songs then of triumph, they never will cease. 

Since Christ, he has risen, we also shall rise, 

And reign in bright splendor, with Him in the skies. 



IN MEMORY OF RALPH ORTON 

It was in spring-time, that's so dear. 
When warbling birds they give good cheer. 
That death came to our home, a chill, 
Then did our hearts with anguish fill. 

A rosebud, he was our delight; 
We loved him, in or out of sight, 
Alas! the hand of chilly death 
Has taken from this rosebud breath. 



Golden Grain 143 

So young, 'twas hard with thee to part; 
It caused some pain, it grieved the heart. 
Deep is this mystery of love. 
Sent from the Father's home above. 

We will not murmur or complain ; 
What's loss to us can be but gain 
To Ralph, our loved and loving son. 
Whose race on earth has all been run. 

In some bright place he's gone to dwell. 
Where no one ever says farewell. 
It's called the realms of endless day; 
Our Father there wipes tears away. 

Farewell, dear Ralph, until we meet 
In joy and peace at Jesus' feet. 
All pain and anguish there are past; 
The rest now thine is ours at last. 



IN MEMOEIAM 

In this world of change and sadness. 
Friends on earth are left to mourn, 

But there is a land of gladness 
Where no one will be forlorn. 

In the fall, when leaves were fading, 
Elsie faded from your eyes; 

Jesus, through the deep flood wading. 
Carried her beyond the skies. 



144 Golden Grain 

From earth's garden one flower taken; 

Planted by the Master's hand 
In yon Eden, sure to waken 

In the happy spirit land. 

There in fragrance ever blooming, 
Never more to fade or die; 

Rich the thought, while in the gloaming, 
She sheds perfume sweet on high. 

When this life on earth is over, 
You will also planted be. 

As the angels round you hover. 
Close beside the crystal sea. 

Weep not then for Elsie, going 
From earth-life to spirit land; 

But continue ever sowing 

'Till you meet, and clasp her hand. 



THE EIGHT PLACE 

Go forth and stand upon the momit, 
And view the landscape o'er: 

Jehovah— He will meet thee there, 
For something is in store. 

A mount of privilege it shall be, 
Where grace and peace abound; 

The life of trust shall strengthened be, 
On God's own hallowed ground. 



Golden Grain 145 

A mount of profit to the soul, 

So do not then delay; 
Go forth with trusting heart, and let 

All shadows pass away. 

A mount of possibility, 

To each one it will prove, 
And peace forever will abide. 

So onward to it move. 

This mount reveals the presence of 

Jehovah; then rejoice: 
He wants to greet and speak to thee ; 

Be patient, hear His voice. 

The still small voice will counsel give, 

And lead to perfect rest, 
Where all secure from trouble are, 

Who seek to live their best. 

And when from this mount's lofty height. 

Permitted by God's grace. 
We'll take our flight to realms above, 

And see Him face to face. 



A VISION OF THE CROSS 

I TO the cross will lift mine eyes. 
To Christ, on Calvary: 

He is my bleeding sacrifice; 
I know He died for me. 



lO 



146 Golden Grain 

On each returning Lord^s Day mom 

I worship and adore 
The Son of God, who will adorn 

My life for evermore. 

A vision to the world clear, 
In all the days gone by; 

A message to the heart so dear, 
To banish eveiy sigh. 

On Calvary's cross we see the Son: 
The Father loved us so, 

That Jesus died for every one 
That sinned on earth below. 

A vision of the cross the place, 
Where we can see the light; 

Behold the shining, loving face 
Of Him who gave us sight. 

The storms of life may gather wild, 
The cross reveals God's love; 

And peace and joy come to the child 
Who lives for Him above. 

The balm for every wounded heart, 
The neat and cosy nest, 

Where every bird is free from dart, 
And every one has rest. 

The day became as dark as night, 
When Jesus suffered there: 



II 



Golden Grain 147 

All visions are not in the light; 
Do not my soul despair. 

A wounded, bleeding Christ has rent 

The vail of temple wide, 
Has to the world God's vision sent: 

Peace, good-will, must abide. 

Oh! could the world this vision see^ 
The Saviour's voice be heard, 

This earth a paradise would be. 
And every heart be stirred. 

No life below would be oppressed; 

All, leaning on Christ's breast. 
Would find a calm and perfect rest. 

And be supremely blest. 

And when, the lamp of earth-life fled. 

Upon a happier shore 
God's beams of light would then be shed : 

The sun would set no more. 



MEN WANTED 

Hear the call the bugle sounded, 
Loud and clear to all around: 

Men are wanted in the conflict, 
If they only can be found. 



148 Golden Grain 

Men are wanted who are honest, 
For positions of great trust, 

Who will always do their duty, 
Put all bribery in the dust. 

Men are wanted, brave and daring, 
Standing by the true and right; 

Ever mindful, ever watchful 
Of the foes not yet in sight. 

Men are wanted, sympathetic, 
Who will be in friendship true. 

To the needy all around them. 
As they see so much to do. 

Men of honor, they are wanted, 
Scorning all that^s mean and base. 

Hating sin, but lifting mankind 
Into high and holy ways. 

Men are wanted in the warfare, 
Full of grace, and peace, and love; 

Ready, when lifers battle's ended. 
For the saints' fair home above. 



THE GREATEST SERVICE TO AX- 
OTHER IS TO BELIEVE IX HIM 

Words sublime and always cheering. 
They are old, yet ever new. 

When some one looks kindly to you, 
Saying, ^'I believe in you." 



Golden Grain 149 

No one has the sunshine always, 

In this world of up and do; 
But it helps, to hear one saying, 

"Yes, I do believe in you." 

When the life, with sorrow blended, 
Shows the cloud with darkened hue. 

Then it's sweet to hear one saying, 
"Fellow, I believe in you." 

In this world of change, becoming. 
There are always some that's true, 

And in hours of deepest anguish, 
Say, "I do believe in you." 

When your trusted friends forsake you, 

And no brightness is in view, 
Then it's good to know for certain. 

Some one does believe in you. 



A HUSBAND'S DEATH 

When the leaves in autumn falling. 
Told of that which we call death. 

Winds were sighing and were calling. 
Whispering softly with their breath. 

Par from him, a loved one waiting. 
Anxious for that husband dear, 

When there comes a message stating, 
He has passed to yonder sphere. 



150 Golden Grain 

Far from home, a husband trying 
To regain his wanted health; 

Gently as the winds are sighing, 
Wants that which is more than wealth. 

How the heart in anguish bleeding, 
Heard the news of his decease; 

How that heart is solace needing, 
Jesus comes and brings sweet peace. 

In a land where flowers are springing, 
Autumn leaves, there never fade; 

There the loved one now is singing; 
Tree of life is there, his shade. 

Weep not for your husband going 
To the land of light and life. 

But continue ever sowing; 

You have been a faithful wife. 

In some bright and better morning. 
You will meet beyond the tomb. 

Where bright crowns will be adorning 
All the loved ones safe at home. 



II 



Golden Grain 151 

LAY HOLD ON ETEENAL LIFE 

(1 Tim. 6:12) 

What is life we call eternal? 

That is found in Christ our Lord; 
It is that which is supernal, 

We read of in His own word. 

'Tis not simply of duration, 

Length of days though that may be; 

But that wonderful creation, 
Here and now, is what we see. 

Sweet the story he is telling. 

Daily to the listening earth; 
On the tide of love it's swelling. 

Story of the second birth. 

To this life his voice is calling; 

All who will may come and live. 
He will keep all those from falling. 

Who to Him their all shall give. 

This alone is life eternal. 
Knowing God and Jesus too; 

It is life forever vernal, 
Life in glory ever new. 

Lay hold on this life eternal, 

Daily practise it in love. 
And you then will have the kernel 

Of the nut in heaven above. 



152 Golden Grain 



AN EXPEEIENCE 

A STRANGER to grace and an alien to God, 

My heart was sore troubled, I felt a great load. 

Though friends spoke of Jesus, who died on the tree. 
My sins seemed to banish that Saviour from me. 

The darkness continued; no refuge seemed nigh, 
In anguish of spirit, I thought I would die; 

When lo in the Bible, God's own holy ground. 
The hope and the promise were there to be found. 

I heard a sweet voice saying, "Come unto me. 

I died as thy ransom, from sin set thee free. 
Then come with thy burden, heart sore distressed ! 

Thy load shall be lifted, and thou shalt be blest.'' 

I came at His bidding, and now I rejoice. 

For pardon is mine, since I heard his sweet voice; 

The load has been lifted, the burden's all gone. 
And I am redeemed by the crucified One, 

Oh, come, heavy-laden, and hearts that are sad! 

The Saviour will save thee, and thou shalt be glad. 
A mansion in glory shall be thy abode. 

And thou shalt find rest in the bosom of God. 



Golden Grain 153 



WHAT IS TRUTH? 

Truth is the light that leads the way 
To happiness and endless day; 
To where the flowers of beauty bloom, 
In fragrance sweet beyond the tomb. 

Truth is a jewel of brightest ray, 
Found only walking in the way 
Of Him who did salvation bring,— 
Our Saviour, Prophet, Priest, and King. 

Truth is a flower of fragrance sweet, 
To us the purest that we greet. 
That brightens human life below, 
As seeds of kindness we do sow. 

Truth is a bird with radiant wings, 

Soaring upward while it sings, 

A song like angels sang by night. 

On Bethlehem's plain in shepherd's sight. 

Truth is a star that sparkles fair. 
That leads us from a world of care 
To where the angels sing on high, 
Above the blue and vaulted sky. 

Truth is the moon, whose silvery light 
Cheers the travelers in the night, 
As on the land or on the sea. 
He understands what makes him free. 



154 Golden Grain 

Truth is the sun, that greater light, 
Revealing all things to our sight; 
It gives us warmth, it gives us heat, 
Inspires all things at our feet. 

'Tis all of these and something more. 
As we shall find on yonder shore. 
Where Jesus stands at God's right hand; 
The Truth, He is^ we understand. 



HE Kls^OWETH THE WAY THAT I 
TAKE 

(Job 23: 10.) 

He knoweth the way, He prepared it in love, 
The way that leads up to those mansions above. 
In joy or in sorrow, 'tis His to prepare, 
And He will walk in it, with those who are there. 

Rejoice in the thought that thou art not alone. 
For Jesus has promised to succor His own. 
The storms may be many, and ills may betide. 
But nothing can harm with this unfailing Guide. 

The child may look up from his play, with some fear, 
But soon it is banished if father is near; 
So when in the conflicts of life, you are sure 
Led on by the Captain to always endure. 



Golden Grain 155 

In the pathway of life, though trials may come, 
They better prepare us for yonder bright home. 
Where no one shall ever be known to sigh: 
The Father has promised to dry every eye. 

Go forward with courage; He leadeth the way, 
And strength He will give thee for every new day. 
In Him you have all that's been purchased by grace, 
And some brighter day you will see His dear face. 

Then sing unto Him a sweet anthem of praise; 
While here on this footstool, now hum the sweet lays 
Unto Him who redeemed thee from sin in His love. 
And gives thee a mansion in glory above. 



BETHLEHEM'S CEADLE 

Far distant, in a Sunny land, 
A child was bom one night. 

He came from heavenly courts above 
To give mankind the light. 

No earthly mansion here below 

Was fitted to receive 
This messenger of heavenly peace. 

Who never would deceive. 

The babe was bom on Christmas mom. 
And in a manger laid. 



156 Golden Grain 

Surrounded by the cattle there 
His home at first was made. 

A star of brightest splendor shone, 

And guided to the place 
The wise men who came from the East 

To look upon his face. 

Rich gifts and frankincense they gave, 

All honor to the king; 
And shepherds, as they watched their flock 

Heard heavenly chorus sing, 

All glory give to God on high. 
To men below there's peace; 

The gift of God to earth is Christ, 
His praises never cease. 

May all who hear these words this day. 
Give heart and life to Him, 
The Christmas gift to us so dear— 
Our Prophet, Priest, and King. 



Golden Grain 157 



THE CEYSTAL CAN NOT EQUAL IT 

(Job 28:17.) 

The crystal is of beauty rare, 
And charms the one who does it wear, 
But wisdom brought to earth below 
By Jesus, who did it bestow. 
Is fairer than the glittering gem. 
Go touch the border of His hem, 
And find it perfect in its form; 
'Twill shelter from the coming storm. 
The crystal can not equal it. 
In value, nor with it compete 
In transformation of its kind. 
As you will surely always find; 
For lives are formed anew again. 
The past is blotted; not a stain 
Remains to those who will deny 
Themselves, and on God's son rely, 
For strength and succor come to all, 
Who have been ruined by the fall. 
If they will walk in wisdom's way, 
And live for truth from day to day. 
The crystal, while it lasts for years. 
And may be found in distant spheres. 
Will change its form, and cease to be 
The same, as any one will see. 
But Christ's religion will not cease, 
Through all the ages it brings peace. 
And then the saints in heaven above; 
Will rest in everlasting love. 



158 Golden Grain 

A GREAT MYSTERY 

(1 Tim. 3:16.) 
Great the mystery rich in blessing, 
To the soul that comes confessing. 
Sin and miseiy pass away, 
For they have but their brief day. 

In an egg there is a flashing. 
When the atom gives quick lashing, 
Growth begun, a mystery sure. 
Both the same to rich and poor. 

In the tropic forest growing 

Is a flower the winds are blowing, - 

Springs a trap upon the bee; 

Pollen's taken then you see. 

Mystery that which God is giving 
To perpetuate the living; 

Surely there is time to think. 
As we stand upon the brink. 

Mystery in the time of dying. 
Leaving earthly friends all crying, 

We must now contented be; 

Some day we shall better see. 

Mystery great the Bible's saying, 
It can not be found by praying; 
God in flesh was manifest. 
Clothed, incarnate he was drest. 



Golden Grain 159 

Demonstrated to the thinking, 
Joy and peace came to the sinking. 

In despair they cried to him. 

Through that door they entered in. 

He was justified in braving 
Storm and tempest, sinners saving, 
In the spirit justified, 
"It is finished," then he cried. 

Grasp the truth; let no repining 
Keep thee from the fire refining. 
Great the mystery that you see. 
Some day may be plain to thee. 



LOSmG LIFE, WE SAVE IT 

(Luke 9: 24.) 

Self-indulgence brings no blessing, 
Maxim of the worldly wise; 

And no one who intertains it 
Ever by its wings can rise. 

But there is a blessing promised 

To the life of sacrifice; 
You can reach the highest summits. 

On this ladder mount and rise. 

In this lesson to us given 
By the Saviour of mankind, 



160 Golden Grain 

We can see its truth and beauty; 
Sunshine comes by it we find. 

Losing life for others' safety. 

We are building temples grand, 
Which shall last throughout all ages, 

When we reach the better land. 

Life through death is law's fruition, 
Christ affirms it, it is true; 

Then denying self for others 
Brings its own reward in view. 

Think of life in bud and blossom, 
Found at first in single cell; 

Then that cell by its division 
Brings out life, and all is well. 

In each grain of wheat, in center 
There is found a golden term. 

Gives the flour a cast of yellow; 
It is called by man the germ. 

Sacrifice the source of beauty, 
Joy and peace that never wane, 

Man shall find by self-denial 
That which is eternal gain. 



JAN 3 1905i 



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